


Understanding the Clouds

by aneo9988



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: ALL THE SPOILERS, Additional scenes, Answering some little plot-holes, Canon Compliant, Komahina centric, Light novel version of the second game, M/M, MURDERRS, More inner monologues from Hajime, Pre-Relationship, Re-Telling, SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST AND SECOND GAME AND ULTRA DESPAIR GIRLS, Slow Burn, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2018-12-01 14:45:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 112,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11488578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aneo9988/pseuds/aneo9988
Summary: Re-telling of the second Danganronpa game with additional scenes and monologues from Hajime Hinata. Focuses on the relationship between Hajime and Nagito. Adds in scenes from the Island game, as well as extra events clarifying Nagito's inconsistencies. (At least hopes too.)





	1. Prologue: Welcome to Dangan Island!

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a light novel version of the second game with additional scenes and a slightly more competent and caring Hajime. Think of this Hajime as a bit more Kamakura Izuru-like with a dash of a Nagito obsession. It should read as a stand-alone, but the investigation scenes aren't that detailed, so if you haven't played the game and don't care about spoilers, the class trial scenes may not make that much sense. Free time events other than Nagito's are skipped.
> 
> Planning for biweekly or sooner updates, depending on how long the chapters are.
> 
> This work contains an actively suicidal character. If you're struggling, please reach out. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found: [here](http://www.suicide.org/international-suicide-hotlines.html)
> 
> Disclaimer:  
> This is a work of fan fiction using the Danganronpa world and characters, under the fair use copyright law. Most of the words and dialogue are taken directly from the second game. Please support the franchise by owning the games and other canon content! 
> 
> Komaeda remains my favorite character of the series, and I would love to hear your feedback of the fic and any rantings/love of the danganronpa games.  
> On tumblr at: aneo9988.tumblr.com

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prologue of the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updated the monologues so that they are in italics, no quotes.
> 
> Update: 8/9/17 - Added more dialogue, edited some sentences.

_"Hey..."_

_"Can you hear me...?"_

_"Are you okay?"_

Hajime opened his eyes to the flickering image of a pale white-haired boy with pretty green-grey eyes. _He's close,_ he thought. _His eyelashes are long..._

"Hey, are you listening?"

Memories flashed in his mind of exuberantly waiting, standing in front of Hope's Peak Academy, anxious to step in before...before...The memory pixelated like an old, broken video, before darkening into blackness. He remembered a classroom door, greetings by the Ultimates, and that same green-grey stare drawing him in. _We couldn't open the door again, then...then that toy bunny appeared and started nonsensically rambling...and the classroom suddenly collapsed into a white sandy beach...crystal blue ocean...swaying coconut palm trees...what's going on here?!_

The boy in the tattered parka reached for his hand and pulled Hajime up. "Are you sure you're okay?"

His head pounded, everything was abnormal, clearly unreasonable, utterly crazy, blatantly wrong. Hajime whispered, "Leave me alone," and closed his eyes to try and make sense of it all.

"Th-There's no way I can leave someone alone when they look that pale..."

The only two things Hajime could say with absolute certainty were that he had no idea what the hell was going on, and that being told he was pale from the palest guy here was absolutely hilarious.

Hajime sighed. "...The rabbit-thing said we're on a tropical island."

The other boy nodded. "Yeah, you're right."

Hajime opened his eyes and looked around him, trying to grasp at some normalcy. After examining the creepy monitors, surveillance cameras, the shimmering ocean, and the cool palm fronds, Hajime felt...not okay, but at least his heart rate slowed.

"So how are you feeling? You look calmer...um, I understand your confusion after everything that's happened...but why don't we start with an introduction? I'm Komaeda Nagito. Nice to meet you." He held out his hand, and Hajime shook it.

_Komaeda...Nagito...it suits him. Somehow...he doesn't seem like the most reliable guy, but he doesn't strike me as a bad person either._

"Ah, I guess I'll also tell you about my talent so you know why Hope's Peak chose me." Komaeda crossed his arms and sighed. "Well, even if I tell you, in my case, it's a pretty disappointing talent..."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm lucky."

"What?"

"I-It's not a joke or anything...that's my actual talent. I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student...at least, that's what I'm called anyway."

_Ultimate...Lucky Student? How is that even possible?_

Komaeda leaned forwards, peering at him. "Your face looks...troubled."

"Oh, no...I'm not---"

"No, it's fine." He dragged one hand through his sun-bleached hair. "I'm just the lucky winner from Hope's Peak's country-wide lottery. One completely average, talentless high school student selected at random to attend such a prestigious school filled with so much amazing talent..."

"You...were just chosen from a _lottery?"_

Komaeda nodded. "Yeah, I have mixed feelings about this, too. At first, I even declined. I told them I didn't deserve it...but they said they really wanted me to attend..."

_Wait...what?! He declined...? Some people would kill just to be in his position! I know I would..._

"Apparently this so called 'luck' of mine is a talent that even the school doesn't fully understand. Well, thanks to it, a guy like me was able to attend, so for that I'm grateful...but on the other hand, I feel a little out of place here..." Komaeda slightly winced. "Ah, sorry. I have a bad habit of viewing most things through a pessimistic lens."

"Uh, no, it's okay..." Hajime said reassuringly, "I'm the same as well, sometimes."

Komaeda paused, waiting for Hajime to continue, but he didn't, so he added, "Now then, it's your turn."

"Oh...Yeah, I'm Hinata Hajime. And my Ultimate talent is..."

_H...uh?_

"Um, I...I..."

Hajime opened his mouth but no words formed, his thoughts blanked, stalled, revealing emptiness; his body shuddered as waves of discomfort pounded against his frame, a blinding white noise infiltrating his mind as he failed to grasp a single thought.

"Hinata...what happened?"

"Ah...it's nothing...! I guess...I'm still pretty confused by all this, I'm having trouble remembering..."

Hajime sighed and Komada looked concerned as he said, "I understand, your memory must be confused after suddenly getting into a situation like this...I'm sure you'll remember soon once you've settled down. So don't worry so much about it!"

"You're...right..."

"Then, even though I don't know what's going on, I hope we can get along." Komaeda smiled at Hajime, and although he was still out of sorts from being kidnapped by a talking bunny to a deserted island with no clear way back to his absolute dream of Hope's Peak Academy, that smile almost held a promise of everything being okay in the end, and Hajime could see himself slowly trusting in that future.

* * *

The introductions with the other Ultimates went well, if not a bit oddly. Hajime couldn't relax, no matter how much Komaeda's peaceful and optimistic attitude invigorated the other students. He knew that everything was not normal, that this kind of fantastical event couldn't just happen--couldn't just be a pure good. After exploring the island with the other student, Hajime concluded that it was truly deserted yet kept in pristine condition, it was filled with all the necessities and pleasures of a beach resort, there was no clear way of escaping it except for those nonsensical hope fragments, and that Komaeda must love teasing him.

It wasn't long before a bell rang and the magical bunny summoned them all back to the beach. There, the other Ultimates recounted all the strangeness with the island, but Hajime's frustration grew and grew as they steadily dismissed his concerns. _It's like they just don't care about Hope's Peak anymore..._ He wouldn't be persuaded by a talking bunny bribing them with swimsuits and a tropical island paradise. As the others yanked their swimsuits from the bags and hurried back to their cabins, Komaeda walked towards Hajime.

"What are you going to do, Hinata? I understand how you feel, and I won't force you to do anything you don't want to do...but if you feel up for it, I'd be happy if you came along too."

He gave Hajime that same tentative smile, as if expecting rejection yet still hoping for his company. Komaeda turned and joined the others and Hajime's iron clad skepticism wavered. It broke when he saw the green-grey student return, swimming with the others, gazing at him, beckoning Hajime to finally give in, winking. _Am I really wrong about all this? Am I the only one worrying? Jeez, I don't care anymore! I'm gonna go for it! I'm gonna seriously enjoy myself and have fun!_

"Fine...I just gotta do it, right? Hey! Usami! Hand me one of those swimsuits! Heeeey you guys! Don't forget about me!" He grabbed a pair of swim shorts, and was about to leave the beach to the cabins when---

"---Wait, huh?"

In a matter of seconds, deep dark clouds rolled across the sky, clouds that promised lightning and heavy rain and terrible omens. Hajime said, "What's happening...? These strange clouds...this doesn't look natural at all...!" He turned to Usami and shouted, "What did you do?! This is obviously not right, it was sunny just a few seconds ago!"

All the anxiety, fears, and uncertainty Hajime built since opening that door bound together in a permanent lump at the back of his throat as he heard that endless storm of malice raging behind that laidback voice buzzing from the monitors. "Ahh, ahh! Mike check! Mike check!"

It summoned them to the park on central island, and no one could shake the dreadful, desolate feelings that threatened to spill over. Hajime hated being right, and a gnawing regret ate away his stomach when he saw Komaeda's painful, wild-eyed expression.

Saionji left and he was alone on the beach and he began trudging down the bridge to Jabberwock Park, heart beating erratically, fists clenching, nails indenting his skin. He arrived along with the rest of the stragglers, only to hear mad, unstable laughter coming from a black and white toy bear. The bear-- _Monokuma_ spewed nonsense about misery and despair, but thankfully Usami stepped in and tried to disable it.

Hajime's last sliver of hope died as Usami lost and the bear changed her into Monomi. He could barely keep track of what that mad bear spit out, but with the words, _"killing school trip,"_ his brain halted as fear pooled in his gut. His lungs refused to pull in enough air, and a sharp, stabbing pain echoed throughout his body as Monokuma droned on and on. It got worse when the Monobeasts cracked open from Jabberwock's statue. His legs, arms, eyes, voice rejected any movement until a stray bullet cut his left cheek, and after he could only risk a glance at the rest of the students, all looking petrified, faces aghast.

Rolling waves of weariness crashed against his tensed muscles and stressed mind when the bear and beasts finally left them alone. Everyone seemed utterly drained. Komaeda looked his way, rasping, "Wh-What just happened...?" His eyes never left Hajime's even when Togami knocked the breath out of all of them by declaring their worst enemies to be themselves. It was then that he realized how little he really understood the man gazing back at him, and how little he knew himself.


	2. Destination Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 of the second game. Free-time event #1, along with some beach scenes from island mode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I went super in-depth with the class trial. I probably won't be as detailed for the second and third trial. Maybe even the fourth? That one's my favorite, so I may just transcribe more of it anyway. Haven't decided how much of the fifth trial I'll include......ALSO BEEN TOTALLY PLAYING WITH THE IDEA OF DOING THIS FANFIC FROM NAGITO'S PERSPECTIVE ;D I probably won't start writing that until I finish with this one, though.

Trudging back from the park, Hajime stood alone by the hotel's pool, gazing up into the night sky. There was no way he could go to his cabin and sleep so soon after everything. _Is he...really going to make us do this? There's no way that this is reality..._ He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to reject this situation, but as he opened them, he was forced to confront that this was his new life. He was real, living in this terrible game. His feelings of disgust and anger and fear and hatred and denial---all of them were undeniably real. He couldn't be like Hanamura, he couldn't hide from horror. No matter how much he wanted to, he knew that the only way to save himself, to save everyone was to confront it. And even though his previous life was no longer his anymore...even though the dark sky brimming with billions of pinpricks of glowing stars was way too beautiful than his normal night sky, he still stared at it, daring the stars to look more alien, allowing their vastness to give him a reprieve for just a little longer. But his brain refused, ruminating on the words, _"The student who murders their classmate will be able to leave this island..."_

At 10:00 pm, Hajime heard Monokuma's curfew announcement, and he decided to head to his cottage before risking any retaliation from the bear. But just as he turned his back on the hotel, he saw a puff of white and green from the restaurant.

_Huh?_

He quietly strolled up the stairs to the second floor, and spied Komaeda leaning on the far balcony, also contemplating the shimmering stars. Hajime stood still on the top step, observing the way the soft moon and star light highlighted cool greenish-blue tints on Komaeda's jacket, and mellowed down the pale creams on his face. He thought that he wouldn't mind staying like this, no rabbits, no bears, no beasts--just the small, swaying ocean breeze stirring bits of curly hair in patterns beckoning him to grasp. He cleared his mind, focusing on silently breathing in the scene and the salty-tinged air, when after some moments, Komaeda whispered, "Hinata, we should go to sleep...soon."

"Y-Yeah..."

But he didn't want to go back to unreality, didn't want to go back to kidnappings and bullets and murderously mad mechanical creatures. But he bit his tongue on his protests when he saw Komaeda turn to him and slowly offer a small, sad smile of sympathy. They both reluctantly walked back to their cabins in silence, broken by a simple, "Good night, Hinata."

"Ah...yeah, you too..."

He entered his cabin, and flopped on his bed, screaming silently to himself, burying his head in his arms. _There's no one I can trust. Even if I wanted to, I don't know anything about them yet. I can't even trust myself; there's a part of me that really wants to get off this island...Why me? Why do I have to go through this?!_ Hajime screamed into his pillow, slowly losing his voice. After it faded, he was only left with silence, marked by the sound of gentle waves on the shore, as if they were murmuring, _'This is no longer the world you knew.'_ Hajime forced his eyes shut, trying to go to sleep, hoping to wake up to normalcy.

* * *

He woke the next morning to Monokuma's announcement. _So...it definitely wasn't a dream after all..._ He left the cottage only to have his eardrums shattered by Soda's yelling. After learning that the Monobeasts were guarding the rest of the islands, he headed to the hotel's lobby to speak to Nanami, then went to the restaurant upstairs for breakfast. He piled a few slices of cut ham and hashbrowns on a plate, and poured a half-glass of orange juice and began eating next to Komaeda while the other students mingled. He was drawn back to their conversation when Togami asked them what exactly they needed right now.

"Could it be...a bond?" Komaeda questioned.

"Bond...?" Hajime glanced at the curly haired student.

"This is what I believe, as long as the Ultimates work together, there's nothing we can't accomplish. You'll all be able to create a hope that can overcome any despair. That's why, if we want to escape this island, we need to promise each other that we'll work together!"

A slight smile swept across Hajime's face. _Even though it sounds so cheesy, I also want to believe in it, in us._

"Ah, just as I figured. That was kinda lame, huh?"

The conversation moved on, but Hajime whispered to Komaeda, "No, I believe you."

The other student beamed at him, before responding to Togami's assumption of leadership. Komaeda made a good case for the Ultimate Affluent Progeny to be the leader, so Hajime had no objections to it. Togami then ordered everyone to follow him to Jabberwock Park, and Hajime watched as Komaeda left with most of the other students. He gulped down his juice, stopped to speak with Owari and Tanaka, and then also followed the group to the park.

At the edge of the park, Hajime froze at the sight of the huge spherical contraption where the former Jabberwock statue rested. _Wh-What is that? It looks like a clock, but something seems off...it's counting down?!_ The students discussed the mysterious timer and finally started to take the island's inconsistencies seriously. Togami announced the possibility of an enourmous organization capable of deserting Jabberwock Island, kidnapping all of them, and setting up this horrid game, as the ones behind everything. He then ordered them to explore the island for clues about the enemy's purpose.

_I don't get it. In this tense situation, we all need to be a lot more cautious, and yet, I'm relieved everyone is in such high spirits. It's strange, but I feel like I can rely on them. This must be what it means to have the confidence of an Ultimate...But then...what am I? Dammit, I still can't remember...what talent am I supposed to have...?_

He snapped back to the conversation as he heard Komaeda's voice. "All right then. We should listen to Togami and not waste our energy thinking about pointless things. It's true that we're not in the best situation, but it's also not the worst because we're not alone." He looked at Hajime. "We have friends we can count on to support each other."

The students continued to bicker, before they all slowly left the park to explore the island again, hunting for clues. Hajime was the last to leave, and he walked back from the mysterious countdown timer mulling over the camaraderie emerging from these ominous circumstances.

_Friends, huh? Until now, I really never thought about friendship. That sort of thing seemed embarrassing...believing in each other...it'd be difficult to do that right away, but it'd be nice if it could happen a little at a time._

From the bridge, he spotted Komaeda poking at a weird plastic-looking palm tree on the beach, and quirked his lips. _Since there's time, I guess I can start with him._ Hajime quickened his pace down the bridge towards the beach, yelling, "Komaeda, what the hell is that abomination?"

Once he arrived, Komaeda replied, "It seems to be a present vending machine...though, all I keep getting from it are these boxes of kusa flavored mochi."

"Eh...? Those are my favorite sweets." Hajime remarked, tilting his head at the three boxes lying on the sand.

Komaeda glanced down at the mochi and said, "Oh, how lucky...Then, would you like to eat them with me? Although, you must have something better to do than---"

"Hey, I'd like that, so stop doubting yourself."

"Oh. Right. We should spend time with each other just like our very reliable leader ordered us to do. With everyone working together hunting for clues under such a splendid leader, we'll be able to overcome any difficulty!"

"Um, there doesn't seem to be many other clues on the beach...do you want to just hang out and look for seashells or something instead?"

"Well, I guess that's fun every now and then. It's hard to imagine something unexpected happening while we're picking up shells. Ah, but I do think it's best if you don't get too close to that barnacle-covered area." He pointed to the edge of the grass, where the waves hit the mossy rocks. "Stepping on one and getting hurt isn't that big of a deal, but something even _worse_ could happen..."

_I shouldn't think about that...we should probably do something else..._

"Oh! What about making a sandcastle?" Hajime thought that _that_ couldn't be too dangerous. _But why is he so overly cautious?_

"Great idea! That seems much safer! But I can totally see a huge wave rolling in and destroying our castle before it's finished..." Komaeda crossed his arms, looking worried. "To be honest, I've never really safely completed anything I've tried to make. But if I'm going to make it with you, then it might turn out okay," he tentatively half-smiled.

Hajime paused, examining the curve of Komaeda's lips before replying, "I mean, Tanaka's castle is still up and it's been a day, so I think ours will have a good chance of lasting, too."

"All right, let's try it!"

They both took off their shoes and rolled up their pants. Komaeda's coat hung on the non-plastic palm tree. That done, they begun piling both dry and wet sand next to Tanaka's castle, while munching on mochi every now and then. Despite Komaeda's protests, Hajime was able to collect a decent amount of small to medium sized shiny, pink seashells, and their sandcastle started to look more like a citadel than a shack. One which Komaeda decided must have a moat in case its residents wanted to declare war on Tanaka's fort. Laughing, Hajime scooped up seawater in his hands and sprinted to the moat, trying to carry as much water as possible. It was during one of these runs where his mind started to drift, seeing Komaeda so intently and carefreely sculpting sand. He was surprised he was able to be distracted for so long. But Monokuma's words crawled back up in his mind when he noticed the security camera again. _There's no way that sick bear will drive us to murder..._

"Hinata...are you feeling sick?"

"Huh? Oh, no. Not at all." Hajime spilled the remaining water into the moat, but there wasn't much left in his hands. He turned and ran back to the waves, when Komaeda replied, "I see, then it's okay. I thought you looked pale, or something was worrying you."

Hajime scoffed, "We've been out here for a few hours without any sunscreen. I doubt either of us can be called pale right now."

"True. It'd also be weird if you weren't worrying in a situation like this." Komaeda grinned to himself and Hajime decided to take advantage of his focus on the castle. He quickly but quietly sneaked towards Komaeda's back and dropped all of the collected water on top of him.

"Spfftft...Hinata! I only have one shirt! And that's so cold!" Komaeda halfheartedly glared at Hajime and secretly begun plotting revenge, but seeing the other student laughing at his expense only made him smile instead. 

"Sorry! I...how should I put it...? I was just thinking about all the ways you've been helping me so far, Komaeda. Thank you."

"No, I haven't done anything to receive your thanks. But, for someone like me to be useful to you and to receive your words of gratitude...it makes me happy."

Hajime sat down next to Komaeda, and cautiously touched his arm. He softly spoke, "You're being too hard on yourself," trying and failing to convince the other student.

"I mean, my talent is just having good luck. It's not like it comes from hard work, and it's not like I can use it to do anything amazing. Regardless of how lucky I am, or if that luck even exists, I'm just too unimpressive to truly matter." Komaeda's eyes glistened as he lowly added, "Unlike you guys."

 _Why do you sound so happy about that?_ Hajime backed away a bit and retorted, "You know, it's possible that my talent might be even more meaningless. I mean, I can't even remember what it is..."

"That's not true!" Komaeda interjected, "I'm sure you have an amazing talent! If you didn't, you wouldn't have been accepted into Hope's Peak Academy." He drew closer to Hajime, daring the other to look away first.

_Somehow...when I see the way Komaeda doesn't doubt me at all, I start to believe he's right. He really does help me in so many ways..._

Komaeda's eyes lit up. "I know, if you'd like, let me help you remember." He scratched his chin, thinking out loud, "Let's see...a talent that suits Hinata...what about the Ultimate Serenity?"

"Serenity? Me? Which part of me did you look at to come up with a title like that? My constant skepticism and anxiety? And is that even a useful ability?"

"Hmmm...I'm pretty sure the ability to bring serenity to others just by being there is really amazing."

Hajime wondered if he did that to Komaeda, when the other boy continued with, "Let's see...what about the Ultimate Clumsy Student?"

Hajime smirked self-deprecatingly. "Well, considering that I suddenly forgot what my talent was, that might be fairly accurate..."

"Then, what about Ultimate Scatterbrain?"

"Don't go that far, I wouldn't want a talent like that..."

Komaeda raised his hands defensively. "That was a little joke, don't take it seriously!" He began to tap his chin again. "Hmmm, then how about the Ultimate Spiky Hair?"

"That's not an ability at all!"

"I know right, hahaha! But it's going to be fine..." Komaeda reached towards Hajime and touched his arm, saying, "I'm positive you have a talent that's brimming with hope."

 _Jeez, he's totally messing with me. But thanks to him, my feelings are lighter than they ever were. Could it be...was that his goal all along?_ Hajime tried to search for the answer in Komaeda's soft greenish grey eyes to no avail. _If so, then maybe he's a good person after all...though, I guess it's too early to say. I'd like, no...need to get to know him better from now on. I hope we get to understand each other more, even if it's just a little bit at a time..._

The sun started to set, drawing Hajime's attention to the way the dying rays highlighted Komaeda's hair in splashes of pinks and golds. _Huh, that may be close to what they were like before..._

"Hinata, you're staring."

"Oh! Sorry...um, do you want to get dinner at the restaurant? I can't believe we've been out here this long."

"Okay, sure," Komaeda replied, standing and helping Hajime up, too. He gathered his jacket, and they both swiped off sand from their clothes to the best of their ability, and headed over to the hotel.

While walking, Hajime opened his e-Handbook, seeing an update on the Report Card page. _What's this..._ He saw pixelated faces of all the kidnapped students, and next to each one a star with one shard filled in. _Except, Komaeda has two..._ Monomi's words flashed in his mind, _'If you guys gather all the Hope Fragments, then you'll be able to get off this island soon!'_

_Wait...does this mean?!_

Hajime grabbed Komaeda's hand, saying, "I have an idea, come with me for a sec," before sprinting to the top of the bridge to central island.

"H-Hinata? What is it?"

At the top, he leaned close to Komaeda and whispered, "Okay...so this might be a little far-fetched, and I may be blowing it by telling you...but this is one of the only areas with no monitors or security cameras, so..."

Komaeda whispered back, "What have you discovered?"

"Look at your handbook. Apparently, the Hope Fragments can still be collected. What if Monomi's promise is still true? That if we can get all of them, we can get off this island?"

Komaeda looked skeptical, replying, "She's completely powerless, I doubt she has any ability left to get us out. And if she does, then why hasn't she used it now that she's not in control anymore?"

"Well, that's the thing. What if it's automated? Like...a signal from these handbooks can activate a boat or a plane to appear once the fragments are completed? That way, we wouldn't be able to overpower Monomi and force her to make us leave."

"Hmmm...that may be worth considering. But if we do pull it off, won't Monokuma just destroy whatever escape route we get?"

"Ah...yeah...you're right..."

"Still, if we get everyone involved, we may be able to come up with a better plan for that."

"You really think so?"

"Well, you've made me think of something else. Notice anything weird in the regulations section?"

"Monomi's rules are still there...?!"

"Exactly, especially rules one and four. Maybe he can't interfere with rules already placed..."

"And since the Hope Fragments were already there, maybe he also can't interfere with them!"

Komaeda nodded. "Right. It is still pretty unlikely, but if you're right and the handbooks are automated, then collecting these fragments might be the best chance we have for getting off this island."

Hajime felt something warm crawl up from his stomach. _This feeling...is it...hope?_ He smiled, murmuring, "Then I'll go tell Togami. See you at the restaurant," before racing down towards the front of the hotel, where the map indicated Togami's location.

* * *

After dinner, Hajime rested at his cabin, wondering if he should just trust Togami to tell everyone about collecting the fragments, or if he should help, and maybe corner a few students where there aren't any cameras. But he was interrupted by Monokuma's summons to the park again. _No, please don't tell me he's already caught on...?_

His walk to the park was utterly solitary except for a brief meeting with Pekoyama by the park's entrance. Goosebumps sprung up all over his body, and Hajime doubted the slight breeze caused them. _I guess I have no choice but to go..._ He was the last to arrive, and again subjected to another nonsensical item staring at him in the middle of the park--some sort of stage. Dread built up as Hajime awaited the bear to appear, but at least Togami's inspiring leadership was a bright spot. When Monokuma and Monomi did show up, performing their comedy routine, all Hajime wanted to do was run back to his cottage and try to forget everything. He grimaced at Monokuma's announcement, when he realized he got his wish--only that apparently he forgot about all of his memories of going to Hope's Peak Academy instead. He felt lightheaded, he couldn't think, couldn't speak. Not even when the mad bear announced the motive for killing--to regain their school memories. He found his voice when Monokuma declared that there was a traitor hiding among them all.

"W-What?!"

"For real, you guys, how can you be so sure? You guys don't know anything about each other. You don't know each other's true natures." The bear started shrieking. "That's why, if one of you is planning to kill someone, it's impossible for any of you to know!"

With those words, everyone stood silent. No one argued with him, no one said a word. Even after Monokuma's boisterous laughter faded away, they all just silently stood there. This situation, this circumstance, this phenomenon, this disaster, this nightmare, this hell, this despair...it consumed every last one of them. And soon enough, the curfew announcement blared from the monitors, and the group trudged back to their cottages for the night.

* * *

Hajime woke up the next day with his head ruminating in circles. _Monomi stole all your high school memories! Puhuhuhu! There's probably a traitor I don't even know about hiding among you all!_ He splashed water on his face and dragged his hands over his hair in an attempt to dispel these thoughts.

 _Still...what if the traitor is someone different than everyone else? Like someone who can't even remember his talent?_ He exited the cabin, trusting in his feet to drag him towards the restaurant, when he almost crashed into Komaeda. 

"Oh, Hinata. Good morning."

"Ah, yeah...good morning..."

"You seem like you're worrying again. To be honest, I've also been feeling pretty down. Not everyone is as strong as Togami...I've never thought about having to overcome my problems, but it's more like I was just living my life without even thinking about them at all." He looked to one side. "Even so, I was able to live. But this is different..." Komaeda sighed, clenching one arm before adding, "Sorry, I was being too negative, wasn't I...?"

"No, I understand, I'm the same as well." Hajime offered a slight smile in return, and Komaeda mimicked it and continued with, "But now that we've talked, I feel assured again. Being loners won't get us anywhere, that's why I think we should all help each other out."

He nodded his head in agreement, and Komaeda took that encouragement to say, "Also, I think we need to get stronger." The other boy raised one hand in emphasis. "An ordeal like this is what'll make us cling to hope."

"Y-Yeah...you're probably right, or at least, I'd hope so..."

Komaeda looked almost...disappointed with that lackluster response. "Well, I'll be heading to the restaurant now," he said as he turned and left Hajime by the cottages.

 _Was he expecting something different...?_ Hajime followed behind, stopping to talk to the stragglers outside and Mioda and Nanami in the lobby.

Once at the restaurant, he grabbed breakfast in the unusually silent room, surprised he got there before Komaeda. When the green-grey student walked in, he sat in the furthest corner of the room from Hajime, close to Togami and Hanamura.

_Sigh...was it really something I said...?_

He tuned out the other students, replaying the morning's conversation with Komaeda in his mind, searching for any indications of why the other student was avoiding him now, when his ears perked up at Togami's declaration.

Their leader sighed, "I guess it can't be helped, we should just talk among ourselves. Someone can fill him in later."

_Could it be...? Is he going to announce it here...?_

"Talk? Do you mean...?" Hajime questioned.

"Rejoice. I have decided to throw a party tonight." Togami smiled.

_Huh?_

"That's right. A huge party that will last from sundown to sunrise. Just so we're clear, I will not allow any absences. Your attendance at this party is absolutely mandatory."

Hajime remained confused until he heard Togami mention that he needed the venue to be an enclosed space, one even Monokuma couldn't enter. _Ah, I guess he means to declare the plan at the party? Away from Monokuma's influence?_ He thought Komaeda was also thinking the same thing when the other student remarked about using the old-looking building next to the hotel. Everyone agreed to use it, even Monomi, but no one wanted to clean it.

Komaeda said, "In that case, why don't we decide by a random drawing?"

Hajime asked, "Random drawing...?"

"Actually, to be honest, I already prepared a drawing because I assumed something like this would happen."

_Wait...really? To go to the trouble of preparing this, just what did you think would happen?_

"Whoever draws the chopstick with the red mark on it will be in charge of cleaning, okay?" Komaeda watched as the rest of the students slowly agreed. "Does that sound fair?"

One by one, everybody took turns pulling the chopsticks Komaeda held. When it was Hajime's turn, he grasped on the base of a random chopstick, fingers grazing Komaeda's hand, lingering just a moment too long in revenge for avoiding him at breakfast, and he pulled it out.

"Oh, it's blank."

Komaeda was left with the last chopstick, which of course, was marked.

Hajime smirked. "For someone called the Ultimate Lucky Student, you don't seem very lucky right now."

Komaeda rolled his eyes. "Hmm, I guess it can't be helped...Well, if it's just cleaning, leave it to me. I'm actually pretty good at it."

The students agreed that Hanamura would be responsible for the food, and that they would meet up in the old building after the curfew announcement.

* * *

Once everyone dispersed feeling energetic at the upcoming party, Hajime lingered in the restaurant, finishing his breakfast, wondering what to do today. He glanced towards the old hotel building. _There's no way I could handle being stuck cleaning the whole day alone...maybe I could offer Komaeda moral support instead?_ That decided, he headed over towards the old cottage, knocking on the door. No one appeared, and Hajime entered, calling out, "Hello? Hanamura? Komaeda?"

Komaeda met him in front of the dining hall looking apologetic. "Oh, Hinata. I'm sorry, you came all this way and I have to ask you to leave...I'm just so busy cleaning right now. I'll definitely finish before the party, so I'll see you tonight." He grasped Hajime's shoulders and nudged him towards the entrance area.

"W-Wait! I was just thinking I could help? I mean, this is a pretty big place with lots of rooms, and I think Hanamura is only concerned with the kitchen so..."

"Oh." Komaeda's face scrunched in confusion before morphing into reluctant resignation at the sight of Hajime's stubbornness. He sighed, "I guess it's expected that my abilities are distrusted..."

"Komaeda, you know that's not it at all. Hell, if you want, I can even just offer moral support."

"You...want to watch me clean?"

"No! I mean, yes...?" Hajime winced, dragging his hair back. "Look, I just don't want you to be alone while everyone else is doing something fun. Plus, if we both work at it, won't the party be even more successful?"

"Well, if you put it that way..." Komaeda smiled slightly evilly. "Who am I to deny your request, Hinata? If you would really like to help me then," he pulled out a shopping list filled with cleaning supplies and...

"The biggest carpet in the store?!" Hajime exclaimed, "You were really going to carry that alone?!"

"Oh, and I'll need you to wash and dry the tablecloths. There doesn't seem to be any washing machines, so you'll have to do it by hand. Luckily, it's bright and sunny outside!" Komaeda laughed almost maniacally.

Hajime swallowed. _...What have I gotten myself into?!_

"Of course, if it's too much for you, you can always leave it to me and enjoy your time before the party."

Hajime snatched the shopping list and replied, "I'll get the supplies, then we can go and get that carpet together. Afterwards, I'll take the sheets, while you clean this place up."

He returned with all the supplies, plus some extra. Komaeda noticed, but didn't comment, instead following Hajime out again to retrieve the carpet. Once at the supermarket, he begun measuring the largest carpet in stock. "Hmm...this won't do, they don't have any that will cover the whole floor."

"We could bring two of them back?"

But the other student shook his head, declaring, "Don't worry, I can make do with one. Yes, this will work perfectly instead..."

Hajime looked askance, but gathered the carpet and hefted one end on his shoulders. Komaeda took the other end and together they exited the store, only to run into Soda.

"Woah! You guys need some help or something...?"

Before Hajime could reply affirmatively, Komaeda tightly smiled saying, "Thank you for your concern, Soda, but that won't be necessary. Right Hinata?" He twisted a bit to stare at Hajime, almost pleading him to agree.

"Uh, right. This is a lot lighter than it looks!"

"Well, if you're sure..." Soda scratched his cheek, before resting his hands on his head and exclaiming, "Then I'll look forward to the party tonight!" The other students nodded in agreement, and exited the store. Hajime just stared at the back of Komaeda's head wondering about the other's weird behaviour.

_I doubt he dislikes Soda and this would've gone a lot quicker with his help so why...?_

At the wooden gate to the hotel, before opening the door, Komaeda glanced back a little red-faced saying, "Sorry Hinata, I just wanted you to myself for a little while longer...I hope you're not mad at me or think I'm too weird for that?"

_Damn can he say really adorable things sometimes._

"Ah! No, that's okay! I mean, this is pretty light anyway, so it's alright."

Komaeda dipped his head in thanks, and moved towards the old cottage. Once inside, they leaned the carpet in a corner, then Komaeda started to scrub down the banquet hall as Hajime washed and sun dried the tablecloths. It was a little after noon when the curly haired student refused to let Hajime back in the old building.

"But...I can help you still! C'mon, I even brought an extra duster and mop!"

Komaeda looked to the side, crossing his arms, replying with, "Ah, but I want to surprise you, Hinata. You've already done so much for someone like me, I just want to impress you tonight. Please just relax until the party..."

Hajime sighed in defeat, "If you're sure--"

"I am."

"--then, fine. I'll leave you to it." Hajime's face brightened, and he concluded with, "I can’t wait till I see what you’ve done with the place!" Komaeda half-smiled in return, softly saying, "See you then, and thank you," and went back to work.

Hajime sighed again, strolling outside, wondering how he should spend the rest of the day until the party. He checked his handbook, but Komaeda still only had two fragments.

_Hmm, then I guess it's not dependent on how much time we spend with someone else...I'll see what Togami thinks of it tonight._

* * *

At night, Hajime re-entered the old building, seeing Togami in the entrance area. When Togami performed the body check, he whispered to Hajime, "I'll tell everyone about it tonight. It won't matter if Monokuma listens in, I doubt he can change anything anyway."

"Great, then I'll await your announcement." Hajime strolled through the hallway, speaking with Nidai, before opening the doors to the banquet hall.

_Woah...talk about a transformation._

Komaeda waved at him and said, "Ah, Hinata! How do you like it?"

"It looks completely different! I can't even see a single cobweb. You're commendable, Komaeda."

"...Yeah, thanks." He seemed a little sad, before looking at Hajime and smiling again, adding, "Even though it took so long to clean, I'm glad everyone's so happy."

"Me too. Hey, are those Hanamura's dishes?! They smell amazing..."

Hajime mingled with the others, enjoying the party's atmosphere and his companions' quirks. _This feels weird...when I first came to this island, watching everyone have fun was so frustrating. But now it feels reassuring._ He glanced at Komaeda. _We're actually friends who fight together...friends who've developed a sense of unity..._

_Still, Togami hasn't brought up the fragments yet...what is this sense of unease I feel?_

As the evening wore on, with more and more people distracting Togami, Hajime grew antsy. His collar felt a bit too tight, hands clammy, the food, though mouth-wateringly delicious, swirled in his stomach, making him nauseous. _I can't stand waiting any longer..._ Just as he was about to speak up, the lights cut out.

_Huh? It's dark all of a sudden?_

"Uwah! It's a b-blackout!"

_B-Blackout?_

"Hey, I can't see anything?!"

"I-It's pitch black! My future is pitch black!"

"E-Everyone calm down! We gotta stay calm in a situation like this!"

"Waaaah! Don't step on my feet!"

"What the hell? What's going on here!?"

"Th-This is...!"

"Ow!"

"Turn the damn lights on! I can't eat like this, y'know!"

"You guys? Where are you? W-Wasn't the blackout...just in the kitchen?"

"Perhaps the breaker overloaded?"

"H-Hold on a sec! I'll go along the wall and...do something about it!"

In that instant, as the students stumbled around in darkness, their fear swallowed them up like a flood. The sounds of screams and frantic footsteps rang throughout the dark dining hall. Because the windows were entirely covered by iron plates, the blackout surrounded them with complete darkness. No matter how long they waited, their eyes never adjusted. And so, they waited. And waited.

"Ah...!"

The lights flashed back on, and Tsumiki was seen in a compromising position. Moreover, no one knew why they turned back on, or where Togami disappeared to. The students took Komaeda's suggestion and split up to find their leader. Hajime exited the dining room, seeing the green-grey student leave the kitchen towards the storage room. _...Weird, why was Komaeda there? Isn't he supposed to check the storage closet?_ Hajime briskly paced to the end hallway, and slowly creaked the closet door open, when the other student popped out.

"K-Komaeda...!"

"Ah, sorry to surprise you!"

"Right, you were _supposed_ to be looking around here."

_And not in the kitchen._

"Yeah, Togami isn't here. I wonder where he is? Have you checked the entrance area yet?"

Hajime sighed. "I should, shouldn't I?"

_Maybe I was imagining things? Or he just wanted to check in on Hanamura? Anyway, this isn't the time to be suspicious, I need to find Togami._

He turned and paced towards the entrance area, briefly talking to Nidai and Sonia--and still no Togami. Speaking to Nanami outside also bore no fruit in the search for their missing leader, so he went back to the dining room.

"Hinata! How'd it go?" Komaeda looked worried.

"Well, when I talked to Nanami, she said he didn't go outside..."

"Th-That's weird..."

Hanamura piped, "He wasn't in the kitchen, obviously."

Soda fidgeted with his beanie. "No one was in the office..."

Owari sniffed the air. "Do any of you smell somethin'?...It smells like blood."

Hajime paled. "Blood!?"

"It's coming from over there!" She pointed towards the table in the far corner.

"Th-Thats...!" Komaeda grimly clenched his teeth. "It's best if we go check it out, Hinata."

"Y-Yeah..."

They both dashed towards the back table, and reached out to pull the tablecloth. Hajime stopped out of nervous fear, but Komaeda flipped it back in one go, and under the table lay Togami, dead, pooled in wet blood.

* * *

Since Togami's body was uncovered, the scent of blood permeated the room, choking Hajime as he investigated the murder scene. _Why...why did this happen...?_

Komaeda tapped Hajime's shoulder, saying "Ah, Hinata, a moment?"

"...Hm? What is it?"

"When we're finished with the investigation here, would you like to hear what everyone has to say, together?" He clutched his arm, murmuring, "If I go by myself, some people might not talk to me out of caution."

_Well...we've been told that one of us is a killer...it can't be helped if everyone's on edge right now._

"But...why me?"

"You're easy to talk to, and I feel like you have a scent similar to mine...we both harbor special feelings toward Hope's Peak, right?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Hajime sighed. "Fine, if we're going together, let's get on with it. There's no time for idle chit-chat."

"I'm glad, it'll be a great help."

_Special feelings, huh...? Even so, what he said about us being similar, I don't think I agree...He always seems so calm in these situations, like he doesn't feel a gnawing terror in his throat at the fact that...that our leader has just been murdered._

They talked with Sonia and Mioda in the lobby, Pekoyama and Soda in the office, and Hanamura in the kitchen, then they finally investigated the storage room.

"This storage room is really dusty...and dark." Hajime walked towards the irons.

Komaeda followed him, fingers dragging against the rim of the irons. "My hands were full cleaning the dining hall, so I couldn't even touch this room."

"It even has cobwebs...There's no way I could stay in here for a long time." He flinched away from the webs.

As the boys investigated the storage room, the hanging light bulb started to flicker. Hajime moved towards the rack where he stored the extra tablecloths, trying to avoid the bloodied one, but its iron smell still aggravated his nose, and he felt the inky blackness of the room cloud his vision; the bulb blinding him with flickers of light. He wavered, falling onto something.

"H-Hinata? Are you okay?" Komaeda steadied him, grasping his shoulders. "What's wrong?"

Hajime closed his eyes, taking slow breaths, leaning onto Komaeda. He paused for a minute before answering, "Sorry, I just can't go back out there yet..."

"Okay. We're done here anyway, why don't we investigate outside? I think you need some fresh air."

"No, no I just need a minute." Hajime squeezed his eyes, clenched his fists, and tried and failed to calm down, to dispel all thoughts. "It's just...it's so hard to go back out and start suspecting everyone else."

"Everyone else? Not me?" He loosened his grip on Hajime in surprise.

Hajime opened his eyes, grabbing the other student's arms. "You couldn't have killed Togami, not with how you've always revered him. I know you're not a killer, Komaeda. You didn't do it." In a small, soft voice, he added, "I mean, you believed in collecting the hope fragments, right?"

Komaeda glanced towards the door before flatly replying, "Right." He waited another minute before continuing with, "Hey, Hinata...I don't mean to rush you, but how much longer are you gonna stay in this dark place? We're wasting time...let's move on and investigate outside."

"Ah, yeah...you're right. Let's go. I'm okay now." They both walked towards the entrance area.

"Why don't we check Togami's cottage? There might be clues there, so I thought it'd be good to check it out just in case, but..." Komaeda crossed his arms, looking down. "I was scared I might encounter some danger if I went there by myself..."

"Well, I don't really mind going there together, but Komaeda," Hajime pulled on the other student's sleeve. "Aren't you worried about the possibility that I might be that danger?"

Komaeda stopped, and turned to face Hajime. "...You mean, am I worried about you being the killer? To be honest, I don't think you're the killer. In fact, I can't even imagine it." He begun to smile except his lips kept stretching upwards. He gestured outwards faux-dramatically. "It's like...instead of living with doubt in others, it's so much better to die believing in others." He continued out through the door.

"Don't talk like that, we're doing this so we can live, you know?"

"As I thought...you sure are strong. You are definitely the chosen one--chosen by Hope's Peak Academy. All right, then let's get going to Togami's cottage!"

"Y-Yeah..." He followed Komaeda out, staring at his back.

_I don't know why, but lately...every time we talk, I don't really know how I'm supposed to react..._

They met Nanami and Tanaka outside, and listened to her testimony before heading to Togami's cottage. Once inside, they examined the room, finding nothing suspicious except for a letter on the nightstand.

"Is it a letter someone sent to Togami?" Hajime grabbed the envelope.

Komaeda turned to look over his shoulder. "There's no sender, that looks pretty suspicious. Hinata, you should check what's inside."

"Yeah, you're right." He opened the envelope to see the words, _'BE CAREFUL! The first kill will happen tonight. Someone will definitely kill someone.'_

"Huh? Th-This is...!"

"Is this a crime warning? No, if it says, _'Be careful,'_ it's probably a threatening letter. Regardless, who would send something like this?" Komaeda tapped his chin. "Maybe...is this why Togami suddenly decided to throw a party?"

"Huh?"

" _'The first kill will happen tonight.'_ Because someone made this threat to our leader, he gathered everyone in one area, and was extremely cautious about all the dangerous items. He was trying to create a scenario in which everyone could monitor each other. He thought if he did that, nobody would be able to kill anyone."

"So, he believed in this crazy letter?"

"He couldn't ignore the possibility of this happening, even if it was just a worst-case scenario. Remember what Togami kept saying? How he wouldn't let anyone become a victim?"

"He couldn't overlook that slim possibility, just to keep his promise? Then why keep it a secret? If he had just told us, or even just one other person..." Hajime felt regret bubbling inside him.

"He probably couldn't, he probably thought that was also a worst-case scenario, nor could he trust anyone else..."

"What do you mean?"

Komaeda sighed. "If everyone knew what was in this letter, whether it's a lie or not, everyone would've likely begun to doubt each other, and at that point there'd be no turning back. And of course, he couldn't be sure that anyone he did tell was secretly the sender, who could then further manipulate him."

"S-So Togami tried to do something about this all by himself, without telling anyone?"

"Yep. His strong sense of responsibility is the only explanation I can think of."

"A-Anyway, whoever sent Togami this letter also killed him. Is that what you're saying?"

Komaeda glanced out the window and paused, then eventually said, "Sorry, no...this could be a prank, and it might have nothing to do with Togami's death at all."

_Hm? What was that? He suddenly became really quiet...I see, he doesn't want to believe one of us could be a killer..._

"You know, I could believe that. I mean, look at the handwriting. No two letters are written the same way, aside from the obvious ones. Whoever did this disguised their handwriting, or probably has great difficulty in holding a pen, like Monokuma. It could just be a prank or another insane plot from the mad bear."

Komaeda went silent for a few moments again, before replying, "Y-Yeah..."

_Huh, I thought that might lift his spirits a bit...Still, the most obvious explanation is that the killer wrote this letter. And if that's the case, then that person completely predicted how Togami would react once he received it, right? They planned to manipulate Togami, and killed him right before our eyes...Dammit, who the hell would do that?_

"Hinata, there's probably not much time left until the class trial starts."

"Probably..."

"Which reminds me, you asked Koizumi for a favor earlier, right?"

"Yeah, I wanted her to find out where everyone was standing before the blackout. She's probably finished by now..." He moved to the door, but Komaeda didn't follow. "You're coming with me, right?"

"...Sorry, that's all you."

"Huh?"

"I...need some time alone." Komaeda dragged his hand through his hair. "I'd like some time to collect my thoughts."

"I-I see, I understand..."

"Also, I think Tsumiki's autopsy report should be ready by now. You should probably hear what she has to say. Well, I'll see you later." He touched Hajime's shoulder for a little longer than a moment as he walked out of the cabin.

"...See you soon..."

 _He was pretty pale. I wonder if he's okay?_ Hajime sighed. _Now's not the time for me to worry about Komaeda, but I just can't help it..._

* * *

After finding out about the autopsy report and Koizumi's diagram, Hajime still had no idea who killed their leader. All too soon, Monokuma's announcement rang throughout the monitors, summoning them to Monokuma Rock. Hajime, along with the rest of the students, stumbled to the mountain on central island. Once there, he was subjected to meaningless banter until Tanaka arrived.

"Remember this well! A main character arrives when he intends to! Be happy! You humans have been spared...Fuhahahaha!" Tanaka's earring sparkled.

Hajime glanced at Komaeda, who responded, "It seems you noticed it too."

Just then, an escalator started to assemble from the top of the rock. Hajime watched as it built itself from nothing, and reviewed the case again. _There must be a clue that points to the killer in the lamp cord and the threatening letter..._ He stepped onto the escalator, moving towards the mountain. _There's also Tanaka's Hell Hound Earring..._ At the top, he entered the caged elevator, feeling his hands and feet shake. _I-I have to block all other thoughts and just focus on this trial...if I don't, I'll just be running away from Togami's death...I have to do my best to find out the truth, Togami deserves no less._

As the elevator descended, Hajime heard an unnerving chattering sound inside his head...it was the clatter of his own teeth grinding against each other uncontrollably. Luckily, no one else heard it over the roaring of the elevator as it plunged deeper and deeper into darkness.

The doors slowly opened into a distorted court room with a gigantic iPad and a golden throne. After minor protests, everyone followed Monokuma's orders and took their assigned places. _From this point on, we need to find out who killed the Ultimate Affluent Progeny, Byakuya Togami...He was overly critical, arrogant, and condescending. But, he also had a strong sense of responsibility. When everyone was panicking, he accepted his role as leader and tried his very best to keep us together. A guy like him...got murdered. The person who did it...is one of us? I can't believe it..._

__

He glanced forwards, noticing Komaeda positioned directly opposite to him. _What if it's like he said? That it wasn't one of us, but instead, Monokuma...? But...if it's really true...we need to find out, by any means possible. Because that's our only option. There is no way for us to survive unless we sacrifice the killer. And so, let this life-threatening trial billowing with hope and despair...begin._

Monokuma explained the rules for the class trial, before announcing its beginning. His classmates bantered for a bit before Komaeda steered the conversation to the mystery of the body's location. Soda said something nonsensical about the killer moving the body under the table, which Hajime shut down with the copious amounts of blood found there and no sign of anyone dragging anything to or from the table. "Togami was probably killed under the table."

Komaeda nodded, adding, "So he snuck under the table for reasons unknown, and that's when he was killed. Then, shortly thereafter, we found his body there. The reason why he was under the table...is probably connected to what Togami was doing during the party, don't you think?"

"Right, it probably has something to do with the knife we found. Togami probably noticed the knife was hidden there, so in order to get it, he moved under the table."

The students agreed that Togami must have seen it, or someone trying to take the knife during the blackout. When Pekoyama contradicted Hajime on how Togami could've seen anything in that darkness, he blasted back with, "No, Togami was probably the only one who was able to see in the dark--if he was using those night vision goggles we found under the table, he could've seen what was happening. Plus, Togami was the only one who could've brought those goggles. Inside his duralumin case, we found a smaller case for storing them. And he was carrying that case around before the blackout occurred."

Hajime looked at Komaeda to see if he also agreed, but the other student had his full attention on Hanamura, as the chef exclaimed, "Then, was the knife inside the case, too? If it had night-vision goggles, it wouldn't be weird for a knife to be in there!"

"No, that's wrong! There was duct tape left under the table where the body was found."

"Huuh? Duct tape?"

Hajime's hand inadvertently scrunched beneath his chin as he thought aloud, "They probably hid the knife by duct-taping it to the underside of the table."

The discussion moved to Togami's paranoia, and Komaeda murmured, "He probably knew...someone was planning to commit a murder..." He smiled and finally looked back at Hajime. "You think so too, right Hinata?"

Hajime pulled out the threatening letter for everyone to see. Komaeda gestured towards it, continuing with, "Hinata and I found this in Togami's cottage. Don't you think he probably decided to throw a party because of it? By gathering everyone in one place, he tried to create a situation where everyone could keep tabs on each other. In doing so, he tried to put the writer of the letter in a situation where they couldn't act. Even if the letter was a prank, as long as Togami was determined not to let any of us die, he couldn't take that risk...His strong sense of responsibility made him believe the letter was legitimate. He couldn't even tell us about it since we would've panicked."

_And the only one who could've wrote that letter...is the killer...is it really one of us? But...I still can't believe it._

Sonia reared the conversation back to how the killer could've seen anything in the dark. Hajime indicated that the glowing paint on the knife and duct tape might've been a mark for the killer. The students then figured out that whoever arranged the blackout must also be Togami's murderer.

_As long as the murder happened during the blackout, then the blackout itself is what's actually important. So, we need to make it clear how it occurred._

He agreed with Koizumi, "The blackout was caused by a power surge. Of course, that's not a coincidence. Someone caused it intentionally."

Komaeda stepped in with, "Which is why those three irons were arranged to cause the blackout."

"When you found them right after the blackout, the irons were still on, right? By deliberatly leaving them on, and using the air conditioners in the dining hall and office as the direct triggers, that's how the killer caused the blackout."

Komaeda nodded. "They probably checked the old building's energy usage in advance, and used the irons to nearly max it out. So once they set the air conditioners' timers, they just had to wait until they started up on their own..."

_That means any one of us could've done it...will we ever find the true killer?_

A slight smile appeared on Komaeda's face as he gazed at Hajime. "It's all right. You don't have to worry. Because...they're just a petty killer, right? They can't defeat symbols of hope like you guys!"

_...Huh?_

"There's no way everybody will lose now. This little incident will just be a stepping stone for you all." Komaeda gestured wildly, "In the end, hope always wins! That's what I believe!"

"K-Komaeda? Wh-What happened to you?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, you have been saying this whole time that there's no way a killer could be among us."

"Oh, is that so? Well, let's just put that minor detail aside for now and talk about the incident." He continued to smile in Hajime's direction. "For now, we found out how the blackout occurred, but the question is _who_ caused it, right?"

He broke his stare at the spiky-haired student, focusing on his upturned palm instead. "Anybody could've hid and set the timers for the air conditioners...setting up the irons in the storage room could've been done before Togami set foot in the old building..." He turned to Hajime again, with that creeping smile across his face. "What a shame. Any one of us is capable of that."

"N-No, that means..."

"Unfortunately, it's the truth...Despite the fact that we've discussed this at length, there's not even one clue that leads us to the killer...But that might be because there's no way any of us could be a killer!"

"Y-You're changing your story again?"

"Anyway, I have an idea about what we all should do at this point. Has anyone thought of our situation like this?" Hajime felt a chill down his spine, dreading the wide stretch of teeth across Komaeda's face as he uttered, "Instead of surviving by doubting others, isn't it better to get killed for believing in others?"

"Komaeda! There's definitely something wrong with you!"

_Please tell me so I can help you._

"Haha...You only think there's something wrong with me because there's something wrong with _you_. Suspecting each other like this, there's no way that's healthy behavior..." He pulled up his hands defensively. "Let's just stop this already! We don't have to find out who the killer is!"

_I don't understand...is the killer threatening him to end this trial early? What's wrong, Komaeda?_

"I can't stand this anymore! I don't want to do this to my friends!" Sweat dripped from Komaeda's jaw; Hajime saw his hands shake a little. The trial quickly spun out of control as everyone else cried out about wanting to end this and go back home.

"E-Everyone, calm down!" Hajime exclaimed.

"We're all friends, aren't we? There's no way one friend would murder another..." Komaeda glanced around the room, to most of the students' nods of agreement.

"Then why did Togami die!?"

"Who cares...? Let's just give up already..."

_No! I don't know what's going on, but I swear I'll find the truth and break what hold they have over you!_

"There are no clues that lead to the killer anyway...Not a single one..." The green-grey student murmured into his palm.

Just before Hajime replied, Nanami interjected, "That's wrong! I think..." And the spiky-haired student was almost too distracted to see the cruel change in Komaeda.

"...Did you say something?"

 _Wh-What's this?! His eyes...that look...W-What?_ All he saw from the other student was a cold, uncaring stare of absolute contempt aimed at Nanami. Like she was nothing more than a speck of dust on his shoe. But Nanami was unfazed by it, continuing with, "Cuz, we've already found a clue that might point to who the killer is, or at least a very suspicious person...I think."

"I see, then care to tell me? What's this clue you're talking about?"

"First of all, let's try thinking about how the killer was able to obtain the knife during the blackout."

Komaeda sighed, looking utterly bored. "Didn't we already cover that? They used glowing paint as a mark."

"No, not that...I mean, before that."

_Before...? Is she asking how the killer got close to that table? Even if they had to obtain the knife by relying on the glow from the paint, in order to do that they needed to get close to that table while it was still dark._

Hajime reviewed the evidence collected. "Ah, I know! Let's use Koizumi's diagram to examine the situation." Although Hajime's shirt was clamped against his back by sweat and chills were constantly racketing his body, he felt a glimpse of hope as Koizumi pulled out the diagram.

 _Just as I thought, this diagram is the clue! It will tell us who the killer is, and how they were able to move to the table in the dark. This will finally get Komaeda free from the killer's grasp._ He scanned the picture, searching for any hints on how the killer moved in the dark. "The killer must've used the desk lamp to move to that table in the dark."

Hajime glanced up from the diagram to Komaeda's smiling face. "The desk lamp...? I hope you don't mean they turned on a light or something."

"No, they didn't turn the lamp on, they used its power cord. They could've felt their way to that table using the power cord, right? By doing that, the killer was able to move to the table, then used the glowing paint to find the knife."

His heart began beating erratically, blood pounding in his ears as he heard Nanami say, "And, there's only one person here who could've done that." She pushed the diagram to Hajime, expecting him to point out the killer.

 _The only person here...who could have possibly done it..._ He wasted a minute and a half staring, hands shaking the diagram, unable to point him out. _No...no he couldn't have...!_

Hajime looked at Komaeda, and on his face was the same tentative, small, hopeful smile from the beginning. "Hinata...just say it."

"K-Komaeda...it was you, wasn't it...?"

_Please tell me it's not true...!_

He couldn't stand to look at the other, so Hajime returned his gaze to the diagram and uttered with his voice growing smaller and smaller, "Judging from everyone's position before the blackout...the only person near enough to the power cord...was you."

Komaeda postured defensively again. "You sure that's not just a coincidence?"

It was Nanami that retaliated with, "But still...you had a chance, right? A chance to hide the knife under the table..."

A spike of ice drove through Hajime's mind as he realized exactly when Komaeda had the chance to hide the knife. "Y-You were cleaning the dining hall alone all afternoon...there was ample enough time to hide the knife..."

Komaeda flinched back. "Th-That's...!"

"And...and if you factor in the power cord, you're the only one...who could've done it...?"

 _Wait...something doesn't feel right. It's like I'm missing a key clue somewhere..._ His mind and heart swirled in disarray as he viewed Komaeda's panicked face trying to salvage the situation, making it difficult to piece together what exactly seemed off with their story so far. He begun to tune out everyone else to try and focus.

"S-Seriously, that's all just a coincidence!"

Nanami's soft voice picked up again. "If it was just one coincidence, it'd be fine, but when it's one right after another...I wonder, is something like that even possible?"

Hajime turned his attention back to his classmates when Koizumi shouted, "You rigged the drawing, didn't you? That's how you got picked to clean the dining hall, isn't it?"

Nanami countered with, "I don't know if you're the killer or not, but regardless, it proves that you're suspicious, right?"

"Gh...gh-gh...!" Komaeda visibly paled, teeth clenched, frowning, fist over his heart, eye's darting back and forth.

_He needs help! Dammit, why can't I find a contradiction?! I know it's there...! I know you're not a killer!_

"Komaeda, please tell me you object to this. I don't...I can't believe you're the one who killed Togami. Please let me help you find out who the true killer is!"

"Ngh...nghhhh...!"

"Komaeda, please, say something!"

The other student clutched his hair, pulling on it, sweating profusely, mouth clenched but a pained cry escaped. "Ngh...nghhhhhhh...!"

And then a giggle followed.

"Aha...! Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" His eyes were vortexes of madness coiling and coiling on themselves into tiny inky pinpricks. The edges of his upturned lips cut into his cheeks, but Hajime still saw the sad dimples framing his vicious visage. He didn't think it could get any worse, but Komaeda started speaking.

"The Ultimates working together to combat the despair of their friend's death! Ah, how wonderful, how beautiful it is!"

Hajime peered into Komaeda's eyes, hopelessly trying to map out the layers upon layers of darkness shining brightly, folding onto each other, as if hope and despair had been crudely mixed together.

"Let's cut to the chase...You're correct! It was my doing all along! I'm the one who hid the knife under the table before the party started. I'm the one who used the power cord to find my way to the table in the dark. And of course, I'm the one who caused the blackout. After all, there's no way I'd knowingly whip out a knife in front of everyone, right? But...I never expected Togami to have night-vision goggles. Because of that, we had ourselves a little scuffle under the table...and, well, you all saw how that played out. But with a twist ending like this, I think we can all agree this ended up being a very interesting mystery. Aha Hahaah! Togami performed admirably!"

Hajime remained frozen in place as the laughter ricocheted off the walls. He heard Koizumi yell something about Komaeda's true nature.

"Me, lie? That's outrageous! There's no way someone like me could ever lie to you guys! I understand better than anyone else that I'm ultimately worthless." He grasped his arms, still smiling. "I'm too arrogant to have dreams or cling to hope...I'm too disdainful to actually try at anything...I've made peace with the fact that I'm a lowly, stupid, insignificant human who can't do anything right."

_No...! That's not true! This guy...this can't be the real Komaeda, can it...?!_

"Yep. I even sent the threatening letter. There's no one else on this island whose handwriting is _that_ painful to look at, right? Even Hinata thought that someone like Monokuma could've written it!"

Saionji retorted, "But why would you send a letter in the first place?"

He stared right at Hajime, with every line driving another nail into Hajime's heart. "I think...somewhere deep in my heart...I was probably hoping to find someone who would stop my evil deeds."

_Wait...this morning by the cottage...and when we were carrying the carpet...was that why...?_

"...Well, I bet if that really was my reason, at least _some_ of you would feel sorry for me."

_K-Komaeda...you...?!_

Nanami interjected with a better reason. "By threatening Togami, Komaeda was likely able to manipulate his actions. In doing so, he was able to manipulate everyone to the scene where the murder would occur...Am I wrong?"

"That reminds me...Komaeda was the one who suggested I guard the office," Pekoyama said. "The threatening letter, along with all your suggestions...it was all a trap to manipulate us."

"Yep, that's true too! But you're wrong about one thing. I didn't need to rig the drawing for cleaning duty, you know."

Koizumi pointed at him, saying, "If that's true, then how did you conveniently get picked for cleaning duty?!"

"I see...Well, there's no way I'd expect you to remember it. A worthless talent for a worthless human..."

Hajime's voice got caught in his throat, but he was able to squeeze out, "You're the Ultimate Lucky Student...so you must've...?"

"That's right. I just trusted my luck. I trusted I'd be picked for cleaning duty. Well, it's not _just_ luck...it's true my talent sucks, but I'm still the Ultimate Lucky Student, you know? At the time, You said I wasn't lucky...but it was actually the opposite...I _was_ lucky! That's why I got picked for cleaning duty, just like I wanted!"

Hajime clenched his fists, eyes, and teeth together. "E-Enough...That...I don't care about that anymore...More importantly, why did you kill Togami?! Answer me!"

_I still don't believe it's true...! You couldn't have planned to kill Togami!_

"Togami was a very capable leader...for someone like him to get killed...Oh, the despair it brings...It's only fitting that you symbols of hope should use his death as a stepping stone to shine even brighter. That was my only motivation!" His hands spread wide, as if signaling that he had nothing left to hide.

"N-No, you're lying! You couldn't have predicted that Togami would bring night-vision goggles, nor could you have been near him otherwise!" Hajime slammed the stand in front of him, and felt his mind finally focus on the one piece of evidence incongruent with the rest. "Moreover, it's impossible for you to have killed him, right Tsumiki?"

"U-Um, um...um...How should I put this...? Um...I-Is Komaeda...really the killer? T-There's just something a little strange..."

"If it's only a little then keep your mouth shut, your ugly face is stressing me out--it makes me wanna puke." Saionji screeched.

"A-A-Aaaah! I-I'm sorry!" Tsumiki shielded her face with her hands.

"That knife might not be the murder weapon...That's what you wanted to say, right?" Hajime answered.

"Yes. Based on the entry wounds on Togami's body, the actual weapon should be roughly five milimeters in diameter..."

_Try explaining that, Komaeda!_

The curly haired student kept smiling. "Is this what you're trying to say, Hinata? As long as we can't prove that the knife is the murder weapon, we can't assume that I'm the killer?"

Koizumi pointed again, "Wh-What are you saying...?! No one else can be the killer! It has to be you!"

"Hey, don't blame me. Hinata and Tsumiki are the ones who said it."

"I-I'm sorrrryyyyyy!" Tsumiki kept her hands in front of her face, as a shield.

"I'm not. This proves that there isn't enough evidence to convict Komaeda."

A soft, sad voice joined in. "Hey Komaeda...Are you still hiding something?" Nanami questioned. "Like, during the blackout...did something happen between you and Togami that we don't know about?

Komaeda sing-songed, "Who knows? Nobody can see in the dark...No matter how hard you think about it, the truth is beyond your sight...Don't you think that's a pretty clever metaphor, despite the fact that it came from me?"

_Dammit, stop playing around and let me help you!_

Hajime interjected, "No, that's not it."

"Not it? What's not it?" Komaeda had probably the most surprised look on his face since the trial started.

_The truth is beyond our sight...no, that can't be it. There should be some way to find out what happened in the dark!_

"I can prove it with this! Even if we couldn't see what happened in the dark, I'm pretty sure someone could've heard it...isn't that right, Mioda?"

"Fo' reeeealz?!" Her eyes widened almost out of their sockets.

_D-Don't act so surprised..._

"You were the one who told me, remember? How everyone was shouting during the blackout." He pulled Mioda's testimony, with everyone's exact dialogue during the blackout, and had her recite it to the rest of the students.

Komaeda clapped his hands together. "Such perceptive hearing! Impressive! I'd expect no less from the Ultimate Musician!"

Pekoyama added, "However, after hearing what Togami and Komaeda said in the dark, it almost sounds like Togami fought back against Komaeda or something..."

Komaeda looked down at his palm again, replying, "Well, that's actually what happened. As a sign of respect for Mioda's talent, I have a small confession to make. I was actually shoved out from under the table by Togami. Just as the blackout occurred, I hurried to duck under the table and grab the knife. But Togami, wearing his night-vision goggles, caught me and shoved me right out from under the table." He hugged himself, shivering a little. "That's right...I'm so incompetent that I couldn't even grab the knife..."

_So, Togami stopped him when he was trying to get the knife, and he got shoved out from under the table before he could even grab it...which further proves that Komaeda's not the killer._

"After getting shoved out from under the table, I was just as confused as you guys. I lost sight of the glowing paint, and I didn't even know where the power cord was. Before I realized it, the lights had come back on and Togami's body was lying under the table."

Komaeda sighed. "From the very beginning, the idea to throw a party, hiding the knife, setting up the blackout...it was all going according to plan. But unfortunately, my plan failed. And all thanks to Togami's night-vision goggles. What happened after that...even I don't know."

The other students complained about being right back at square one, but Hajime disagreed. _The evidence is slowly building up to the truth, pointing towards the killer. I may not know how they got away with it yet, but maybe..._

"Meaninglessness..." Komaeda said reassuringly, "what other word is brimming with so much despair? But you can't give up! You need to have hope, do your best, and move forward! Rising to the challenge again and again is why you guys are the symbols of hope!"

_Komaeda...are you really the same person I knew before...? No...there's no way I can say that...I just thought I knew that guy. But this whole time, I didn't know anything about you...I didn't know you were hiding such darkness...It's as simple as that. But, now's not the time for me to dwell on it. We need to find Togami's killer by any means possible and put an end to this farce. If we don't...we...we will all die here!_

Komaeda tapped his chin, remarking, "Well, what now? If the knife isn't the murder weapon, there's no definitive proof that I'm the killer."

"Sh-Shut up! We'll be the judge of that!" Koizumi shouted.

The chef added, "Y-You say you were shoved away, but you can't actually prove it, right?"

And finally, Tanaka concluded, "That's right, even if a different weapon was used, it does not mean Komaeda has been cleared of suspicion!"

"No, wait...guys, you're missing the obvious." Hajime gestured to all of them. "There's another huge reason why Komaeda is not the killer. Togami was stabbed repeatedly under the table, soaking everything around him in blood. Look at him, isn't he completely clean?"

"Wow, Hinata. Nobody's ever complimented me on my appearance before! Not even my own mother!"

_Wait, that can't be right. I'm sure I...I must've...? Unless I never told him aloud..._

"No, I mean...not that you don't look clean, but I mean that you don't have any bloodstains on you."

"I don't have any blood on me? That _is_ weird, heh."

"You just used somethin' to block the blood, didn't ya!?" Owari grumbled.

Komaeda wondered aloud, staring straight at Haijme, "Something that might've been used to block the blood splatter...What do you think it could've been? I guess we did see something I could've used, right Hinata?"

"You're talking about the bloodstained tablecloth we found in the storage room, right? But that tablecloth was pretty big, so even if you tried to hide it and take it with you..."

"Wearing a tablecloth, going under the table, getting a knife in a blackout, and stabbing someone...That's not just impossible for someone like me, wouldn't it also be impossible for you guys, too?"

_Finally! He admits it!_

Nanami pulled up her hood, and said, "Maybe...the killer didn't necessarily stab Togami _under_ the table."

_Yes, let's finally question Tanaka now, and look at the missing skewer in the equipment list._

"Huh? Hinata...you look like you're onto something." Komaeda's smile at Hajime seemed more like before, like there was a bit more hope laced into it than despair, like it had softer edges.

"I know I'm onto something, but it's still not completely clear how, or who...But what's obvious is that the killer must've stabbed Togami from under the floorboards. The wood in the old building is filled with gaps, and there was no carpet laid out under the table."

_That's right, Komaeda insisted on carrying only one carpet...did he predict this even then!?_

"Moreover, if they struck the weapon through one of the gaps, they could've stabbed Togami to death."

Komaeda added, "If so, that means the killer was able to get under the floorboards...but from where? And how?"

"I don't know that yet, but I have a feeling there's someone here who does know. Hey, Tanaka...you dropped your earring in the dining hall, right?"

"...Are you referring to the Hell Hound Earring?" Tanaka growled. 

"About that earring..."

"I said, are you referring to the Hell Hound Earring?"

Hajime supressed the urge to face-palm, and said, "...About that 'Hell Hound Earring'...you dropped it beneath the floorboards, right?"

"Kehehe...Just a bit longer and I would have reduced everything, including that old building, to ashes...However, it's just as the old legend said. The Hell Hound Earring has returned to its natural owner, to me!"

"Is it safe to say that..." Hajime pointed to Tanaka's earring. "That earring is the one hanging from your right ear? You weren't wearing one during the initial investigation, but you had it on by the time the class trial began. That means you were able to retrieve your earring from beneath the floorboards during the investigation by going underneath the floor, correct?."

"Kehehe...it's understandable. After all, you fools only view the world through eyes of glass. But I am different! With the power of my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, it is of no concern!" His pet hamsters revealed themselves, crawling all over Tanaka. "Truly, this is the 'Evil Fourth Eye!' Before the might of the 'Evil Fourth Eye,' all visual chaos is rendered asunder!"

Nidai grounded out, "Man up and speak more clearly!"

"Fine, I shall tell you all! The answer was in the storage room. One of my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, Mirage Golden Hawk, Jum-P, has seen beyond the chaos. A Secret Passage of Doom leading to the underground lurks beneath a large assortment of random boxes. After securing a lighter from the supermarket, I threw caution to the wind and ventured below the floorboards. And as a result of that lonesome battle...I was able to recover the Hell Hound Earring with my own two hands! Fuhahahahaha! Tremble with fear, fools! Behold my power!"

The students agreed that that's how the killer did it. They used the entrance in the storage room to crawl under the floor to the dining hall, and stab Togami. The conversation moved to people who weren't in the dining hall during the murder, and Kuzuryu came under suspicion. However, Hajime and Nanami were able to dispel that rather quickly. They then discussed how the murderer was able to get to the storage room in the dark. Komaeda crossed his arms, concluding, "It appears...we're getting close to the final stage. The blackened or the spotless...which is superior? I think it's time to settle this."

Hajime nodded, asserting, "The killer had a light with them; there was one nearby for sure. See? It's written on the kitchen's equipment list, the portable stove. It isn't powered by electricity and it's also small enough to carry around. So the killer used the portable stove to move from the hallway to the storage room during the blackout."

Komaeda whisked his pointer finger upwards. "I see, I never considered the portable stove, but there's a hole in your argument."

_...Huh? Really?_

He pointed directly at Hajime. "Now then, Hinata. Will you battle against me?"

_With pleasure._

Komaeda smirked. "Did you forget what Soda said earlier? The hall was too dark to see the office. The light from the stove you mentioned, it contradicts his testimony. Or are you intentionally doubting his testimony?"

"I don't doubt what Soda said, what are you trying to say?"

"The reason Soda couldn't see the office was because it was too dark, right? So if a light was shining in such a dark hallway, wouldn't he have seen it?"

"Komaeda, did you forget? Or are you just pretending you forgot?"

The other student sarcastically said, "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"There should've been a wall that blocked light--the fire door in the hallway. If it's closed, it would form a perfect wall blocking any light from the path to the storage room. Plus, that hallway rounds a corner just beyond the fire door, so even if there was a small gap in the door, as long as they pass the corner, the light still wouldn't peek out."

"I see, to actually notice the fire door, just as expected of the Ultimate..." He paused, then sneered, "Oh, you still don't remember your talent, do you?"

"Wh-Who cares about that right now...?!"

_Why is he doing this...leading me to bring up the fire door just to torment me on my talent?! What does he get out of that?_

Pekoyama flared back, "Komaeda, what are you plotting? For someone who insists he's not the killer, you are quite nosy."

"You sound so scary. If you're that angry, why don't you take a deep...breath...?" Komaeda exhaled.

Monokuma interrupted the trial in order to hurry it up, and Komaeda responded, "Fine, I get it...You're telling me to pass the torch, right? We're going to ask the real killer, not an imposter like me, to show themselves."

"Hmph," Nidai barked, "You're obviously the killer, right?"

"If you think I am, I really don't mind."

_I do!_

Komaeda waved his hand across the stands, staring at Hajime. "Whatever conclusion you Ultimates arrive at, I will accept it, no matter what it is."

_So...you're telling me to call out the 'real killer'...Even though, I don't really want to condemn him, but...there's no other way right?_

Hajime pointed at the chef. "Hanamura...is it you?"

"...Huh? W-What!? What do you mean!? There's no way!" Hanamura paled.

"Of course, that's simply my assumption, so if you have an objection, please speak freely."

"O-Objection or not...why am I being treated like the killer...?"

"Because, the portable stove used in the murder came from the kitchen."

"That's it?! That's the only reason you're treating me like a killer?! Isn't that a little drastic!? You're cruel! Cruel! Too cruel!" Hanamura's eyes scrunched together as if he was about to start crying.

Komaeda sighed. "Ah, Hanamura...that attitude is so not like you. For the Ultimate Cook to get so upset..."

"Call me 'Chef'."

"If you fall to aspersions like this, who will be there to support the future of the culinary arts?"

Hanamura blinked. "Th-The future of the culinary arts...?"

"That's right. For the future of the culinary arts, you must face this and fight it fair and square."

"Y-You're right...Yeah, that's totally right!"

"Komaeda, why are you interfering?" Hajime exclaimed.

Komaeda stood in conceit, saying, "Let's assume that the killer used a light, and that they used the fire door to mask that light. And that they moved to the storage room and snuck under the floorboards...Then what? It's dark under the floor too, so how would they be able to stab Togami? You're not gonna say they shined a light on Togami, right? The plan would've been ruined if he noticed."

"Th-That's..."

"There's no way you can answer, right? You personally haven't investigated what's beneath the floorboards."

_...Is that why you were rushing to get out of investigating the storage room...? Not out of concern for me...but because you didn't want me finding that entrance?_

Tanaka interjected, "Unfortunately, I found nothing related to the incident when I investigated under the boards...The only thing I found was a strange liquid, shining in the darkness, near where Togami's blood was dripping."

Hajime's eyes widened. "That means the killer could have used the same glowing paint that was applied to the knife as a mark to target the victim."

Sonia remarked, "I see...then the killer targeted the moment when the paint moved--the moment when someone grabbed ahold of the knife!"

Komaeda's creepy smile infected his lips. "So, the killer used the mark that I prepared for finding the knife as a mark for stabbing...I see, that's why Togami got killed when he took the knife..."

Nanami pointed out, "But if they were able to do that, wouldn't that mean the killer knew about Komaeda's plan all along?"

Hanamura was sweating buckets, twitching. "S-Seriously, I don't know anything...really, I don't know anything at all..."

"Then can I ask everyone a question instead?" Komaeda stared at Hajime again. "If Hanamura is the killer, that would mean he went to the storage room during the blackout...and just what did Mioda hear during the blackout?"

Hajime murmured, "She heard Hanamura's voice in the dining hall..."

"Doesn't that prove Hanamura was in the dining hall during the blackout?"

Hajime retorted back, "But he was in the kitchen the moment the blackout occurred, right? So, why was he in the dining hall?"

Hanamura fidgeted. "I-I thought the blackout was only in the kitchen, so I panicked and ran out of there. Of course, the hallway was dark, too...but somehow I managed to move along the wall toward everyone's voices."

Komaeda glanced down at his right palm. "That's right, Hanamura was in the dining hall, not the storage room. Which means...he's not the killer."

"No, that's not it." Hajime interjected. 

"Wh-Why...? Why do you want to keep falsely accusing me?!" Hanamura pulled on his hat in half.

"It's not like I want to blame you, I just..."

"You should be so proud of yourself, Hinata. You're just progressing toward the hope you believe in..."

"..." Hajime looked away from the swirling abyss in Komaeda's eyes.

"Now Hinata...show me more of your hope. Will that be enough to crush Hanamura's hope?"

Hajime exhaled, trying to calm himself. He said, "...As I was saying before, just because we heard Hanamura's voice in the dining hall doesn't mean he was literally in the dining hall. Remember the floor? It was full of gaps, right? So even if you shouted from under the floor, it should have sounded just like the voices in the dining hall."

"But...but-but-but-but-but...!" Hanamura teared his hair off.

The students witnessed Hanamura change from the cheery wannabe-refined chef to a panicked and angry cook of a more rural background.

_The proof that ties Hanamura to the crime...the fact that he wasn't in the dining hall during the blackout...it must be that!_

"If you're claiming that you were in the dining hall when the power came back, then you should know how Tsumiki was positioned at the time, right?"

"Ngaaaah!" Tsumiki fully covered her face in her arms, face down on the stand. "Don't make me remember! I-It's so embarrassing!"

"No, this is a very important question. Well Hanamura, if you were really in the dining hall at that time, you should know the answer to that! It was a pretty clever way of tripping. There's no way _you'd_ forget about it so easily."

"Huh? Uhhh...huh? Th-That's weird, it just slipped from my mind."

Koizumi put her hands on her hips and leaned in. "There's no way it would slip from your mind, especially not a pervert like you!"

"U-Um...even so..." He looked pleadingly at the curly haired student. "K-Komaeda, say something!"

"Hmmm..." Komaeda sighed. "I guess you might have to give up now..."

"Wait...give up? What do you mean, 'give up'?"

"Hanamura...I'm disappointed too, you know...It's lonely watching someone I admire reach the limits of their hope. It kind of feels like a broken dream..." He stared at the chef with an insincere smile.

"Komaeda, what are you doing!?" Hajime asked, "Why are you messing with the killer like that...?!"

"Ho-Ho-Hold on a sec! Don't go movin' dis along on your own like I really am da killer!"

"Huh?" Komaeda turned the same ghastly contemptuous gaze he leveled at Nanami on Hanamura. "But it's already decided, right?"

Hajime shivered seeing the waves of malice behind his eyes. _I never want to bear the brunt of that hatred..._

Hanamura's last-ditch attempt at deflecting attention was to focus on the supposedly unknown murder weapon. Hajime quickly cleared that up by mentioning the missing iron skewer.

"Before the party, as Togami was confiscating all the dangerous items, he spoke to Hanamura, who stated that one skewer was missing from the beginning. Moreover, the kitchen provides the perfect hiding place for it. Tell me Hanamura, could the iron skewer have been hidden inside the piece of meat on the bone?"

"Wha-Wha-Wha-What are you sayin'...? Th-That's clearly impossible!"

"'Impossible'. That's what Togami and I thought...that's why we overlooked it...But in fact, the only place you could hide the weapon was inside the food that couldn't be inspected. Out of all the dishes you prepared, the only one that could hide a weapon as long as an iron skewer is the meat on the bone."

Despite further protests from Hanamura, Monokuma appeared eating the questioned dish. Soon enough, the bear pulled out an iron skewer disguised as a bone from the meat.

Komaeda smiled wider. "As expected of Hanamura! Such a fantastic weapon from the Ultimate Chef!"

"Y-Y-You're wrong! I'm not the killer! I'm not the kind of person...who would kill someone! I got it! You all set me up! You guys set me up so you could blame dis on me!"

Komaeda wasted no time switching back to bored hatred as he cut with, "Jeez, what a disappointment...such an unseemly defense for an Ultimate like you. Can you really call that hope?"

The students watched as Hanamura started to lose it. Nanami calmed everyone down enough so that Hajime could deliver the closing argument. He described the sequence of events that led to Togami's death, and how Hanamura was able to avoid suspicion for so long.

"That's what happened. How about it? Did I get anything wrong?"

"Th-This is a mistake...A mistake, I tell you...! I would never...I would never kill anyone..." Tears streamed from Hanamura's eyes, and he began wailing aloud.

Monokuma announced it was voting time, and everyone cast their votes condemning the chef as Togami's killer. All too soon, the trial ended, as Hanamura cried out, "I-It was a mistake...I'm telling you it was just a mistake...I was only trying to save you guys! I was only trying to stop Komaeda from murdering one of you!"

"Huh? 'Trying to stop'...what do you mean?" He glanced at Komaeda for clarification, but the other student remained silent.

"I spent all morning in the old building preparing the dishes for the party...a-and then...I heard a weird laughter near the dining hall...and when I peeked over there...I saw him. I saw Komaeda in the middle of cleaning duty, putting the knife under the table...! I-I had a bad feeling about it, so I continued to watch what he was doing, and I saw him place the irons he brought in the storage room and mess with the air conditioner timers...Plus, he was grinning...just grinning by himself the whole time...S-So I questioned him. Wh-When that happened, he..! He said,

_'You caught me?'_

_'What are you doing? What are you scheming?!'_

_'...I'm planning to kill someone, of course.'_

_'Huh?'_

_'Hanamura, just to let you know, it's pointless of you to stop me. Even if you stop me now, it doesn't matter. I will never give up. Whether it's tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, or the days beyond that...I'll definitely start the killing.'_

_'Wh-What? No matter how much you want to leave this island, that's just...!'_

_'...I see, so that's what you think...But, that's not it at all. This isn't about my survival. I just...want the killing to start.'_

_'Wh-What are you saying...?'_

_'I love_ everyone _here. That's why I want to be of good use to them. I love all of the Ultimates, and I admire them for being symbols of hope. That's right...in the name of hope, I love everyone's talents from the bottom of my heart. That's why...I don't want them to lose against something like killing. I want them to prove to me that hope will never lose, no matter how daunting the despair they face may seem. I want everyone to prove to me that "hope will never lose to despair!"'_

_'Wh-What are you saying? I don't understand at all!'_

_'See, isn't it typical that if you face a strong enemy, you will become even stronger yourself? Which means, the stronger the despair you face, the stronger everyone's hope will become, right? I...I want to see that brightness. And in order to see it, I'm going to become everybody's stepping stone. I want to make your hopes shine...It's as simple as that.'_

_'Ah...hahahahaah! That's right, I yearn for a powerful hope that can overcome any kind of despair!'_

_'You're kidding...right? Don't tell me...you're actually serious?'_

_'So you don't understand...that's fine...I don't really mind...I'm just an obsessed fanboy so it's all right that this love of mine is unrequited. I suppose...I can be called the Ultimate Ultimate Fanatic!'_

_'Y-You...There's something wrong with you!'_

_'Really? Do you really think so? Do you really think...there's something wrong with me? But isn't that what love is?'"_

"K-Komaeda...what's the meaning of this?" Hajime's eyes widened, looking fearful. "E-Explain it to me! I don't understand...anything about this story at all!"

"You see, if you have a favorite boxer, don't you want him to fight against a strong opponent and win?"

_"W-What?!"_

"Huh? Am I wrong? It's a given that trials are necessary to become strong, and the harsher the trial, the stronger you become, no? For mere humans, killings are simply a tragedy, but for worthy humans, a trial such as this can elevate their status to an even higher level. It's amazing to me that someone as untalented as myself can become that trial!" His eyes swirled again as his movements became more frantic. "There's no point in someone like me surviving...It's far more significant for me to die as everyone's trial. There's no greater honor than becoming the foundation so that your values may ascend to brave new heights!"

Hajime stood there petrified. He vaguely heard someone mention murdering for fun, then his attention snapped back to Komaeda's words.

"It's not the same as someone killing for fun, but I guess it'd look the same in your eyes. I have no intention of surviving and leaving you all to die."

Hajime swallowed, clenching his fists. He felt dizzy, but he couldn't allow himself to think too much, not now, not here. "Is that why...you didn't mind when Hanamura discovered your plan? Or was that intentional too?"

_When you locked me out this morning...was that when you started everything? You needed Hanamura, but not me to notice...Dammit, why? If I could've just prevented you from doing it..._

Nanami piped up, "So you're saying Komaeda wanted to involve us in the killing, since it would be better for him if the mystery was more complex..." She looked at Komaeda. "Is that why you blatantly revealed your plan to Hanamura? You expected to pique his curiosity, and you looked forward to the mystery becoming more complicated?"

"Well, you're basically right. It's true I was looking forward to that. That's why I took the time to tell him about the secret passage I found while I was cleaning." He smiled, flaring his hand out. "I just casually mentioned it: 'Oh, it's dangerous if you fall, so don't get too close to it.'"

"U-Ughhh..." Hanamura cried, "I wanted to stop him, you know!"

Sonia questioned, "But why...why did you kill Togami instead?"

"I-I don't know! Because Komaeda was the one who was supposed to take that knife...Th-That's why, I aimed and thrusted the iron skewer there...But why is Togami the one who died?! It was supposed to be Komaeda, not him!"

The events of the evening flashed back in Hajime's mind. "Togami...probably tried to stop Komaeda from grabbing the knife. And then in place of Komaeda..."

"No, I don't think so." Nanami remarked. "Togami was probably trying...to protect Komaeda. Cuz...Togami said so, didn't he? He wouldn't let any one of us become a victim. As long as he was wearing the night-vision goggles, I'm sure he saw someone moving under the floorboards. And that someone was aiming for Komaeda."

"I see...Togami is amazing..." Komaeda uttered. "To keep his promise to protect everyone, he actually threw his own life away...And yet, I never expected an ending like this...! Such despair!"

"W-Wha-!?" Hajime flinched back.

"But, we shouldn't let him die in vain. I'm sure everyone will become even stronger by overcoming this despair..."

Pekoyama retorted, "Could it be? You knew Togami would protect you so you set him up to fail?"

"Of course not. I'm not that good at calculating. I just took some precautionary measures. The results of that were going to be my fun for later." Hajime paled further as Komaeda looked toward him and laughed. "Just kidding! But I never expected it would turn out like this. I never thought I'd be the one to survive. But since it was my life that had been saved, I didn't want to just waste it, so that's why I decided to help Hanamura."

"Why...why...?" Hajime questioned.

"Well, because Hanamura decided to commit his crime because he also had strong hope, right? Which means his actions were motivated by hope. If he was willing to go that far, I thought he might truly be the person whose existence I was waiting for." His stare bored holes in Hajime's skull. "I thought he might be the hope that could defeat any type of despair. In order for me to confirm it, I decided to help Hanamura!"

"Wh-What do you mean, 'confirm', just stop it already."

"Plus, I couldn't really help myself when I also empathized with Hanamura. After all, he wanted to kill me but he ended up killing Togami, you know? If I left him in that confused state, this trial might have been ruined, right? But in order for our hope to grow, this trial was absolutely necessary. That's why I decided to help him! I told him, 'I don't care if I die, so you should just focus on escaping this island.' Those were my exact words to him before the investigation, isn't that right, Hanamura?" He glanced at the weakened chef. "But in the end, my help just wasn't enough, and this turned out to be a bad ending for him...But you should be proud of yourself, you will not die in vain! You will become a splendid sacrifice for everyone else so their hopes can grow even more powerful!"

Hajime was speechless. The students around him murmured something. He saw Hanamura wail about wanting to go home to his mother, but he couldn't feel anything about that. Way too soon, Monokuma started the execution sequence. And just like that, Hanamura died. Knowing nothing about the years Monomi stole, nothing about the fate of his diner or his mother. Hajime was sick of this.

"An ending like this is just full of despair, a seriously tragic despair...But still, at times like these, as symbols of hope, you guys need to keep doing your best!"

His body sagged, he had no strength left to listen to anyone, but Komaeda's words kept bombarding him.

"Hold on..." Komaeda replied, "I'm sad too, you know. Didn't I tell you? From the bottom of my heart, I truly love you all. You Ultimates who inspire hope, and your splendid talents. There's no way I can be happy when we've lost such a talented individual." He spoke to the ground.

"...Please," Komaeda laughed, "Kill me any time. If you hate me, I don't mind you killing me! I've already prepared myself to become your stepping stone. If absolute hope can be born from that, then my life is nothing special. However, if you're going to kill me, make sure you discuss it with me before hand, okay? You see, if you do that, then I can cooperate with the killer."

The words blurted out of Hajime's mouth before he could stop them. "Are you seriously intending to help the killer?!"

"It's really not that big of a deal. If you're students of Hope's Peak Academy...if you're the symbols of hope who possess the chosen talents, then it shouldn't matter to you guys at all if I cooperate with the killer, right?"

Komaeda shook his head and shrugged. "Well, I don't mind what you think of me...In actuality, thanks to Togami, I'm starting to feel a small desire to live. Mostly, I just want to watch everyone destroy all the despair that comes for you, one after the other!" He took a small step towards Hajime and smirked, "Ahahaha! Just kidding!"

Hajime stepped back and said, "Let's--Let's just stop this already...this is a waste of time, dealing with you when you're like this..."

"Huh? Even Hinata hates me now?" Komaeda seemed visibly distressed, but continued walking forward. "That stings...I felt you and I were quite similar."

"What does that...?"

"You hold special feelings towards Hope's Peak, just like me."

"D-Don't put me in the same category as you...!"

"But how can you say you're not? Monokuma said it himself, we don't know anything about each other's true nature. No, if it's true that our school memories were stolen, it's the same as not knowing our true selves, too. Especially for you, right?" He moved only a foot away from Hajime, reaching out, cupping Hajime's jaw, tilting it upwards. Hajime gasped, then Komaeda spoke again. "Someone who can't even remember what his talent is..."

He knew Komaeda was just trying to rile him, but dammit it was working. Hajime broke free of his grasp, and stomped towards the entrance, steeling his voice and punctuating, "Owari, please feel free to punch him."

He barely heard Sonia try to inspire the rest by telling them to just do their best--the same line that Komaeda had just said, only more sincere. But his blood calmed down a little as Nanami and Koizumi reiterated that feeling. He swallowed some of his rage back and said, "Fine, you're right. Let's definitely work together and leave this island."

* * *

The remaining students slowly made their way back to first island, to their cottages. But Hajime couldn't just go back inside and pretend like everything was going to be fine. He paced back and forth by the edge of the pool, trying to let his anger dissipate. He concentrated on the left-right movement of his steps, the one-two inhale two-one exhale of his breath; he relaxed his fists, and when the moon dipped lower on the horizon, he stopped. And stared at the night sky, brimming with the same sharp specks of starlight as the first night. Stars that looked like they were about to fall into his hands like pieces of fluttering snowflakes mixed with shards of glass.

 _I can...go anywhere...this sky is connected to anywhere...even to my home, my life. That's why, I might be able to go back there...Right, I'm definitely going to go back home._ As he thought these words, a sudden prickling sensation crawled up his spine. His entire body stiffened. _Isn't this..._

"Is someone watching me...?"

He heard rustling from behind him, then the cool crunch of grass as he turned around, preparing himself to hear Monokuma's egregious laughter. Instead, what greeted him was the sound of strained breathing and the sight of Komaeda hefting himself over the ornate thorny fence.

"K-Komaeda? Wh-What?!"

The green-grey student jumped from the top and smacked the ground with his feet. "Ah, Hinata, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't mean to spy on you, I just wanted to see if someone like me could climb this fence here..."

Hajime realized that the other students must've locked the gate to the hotel before Komaeda entered, making sure he was the only one kept out. _It was probably Owari or Kuzuryu..._ He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. Anger at Komaeda was expected, but right now all Hajime felt was an overwhelming soreness and weariness permeate his mind and body. He stared at the reflection of night in the pool, refusing to look at the other boy.

"If you called out, I would've realized and opened it."

"Oh? I thought you hated me, along with everyone else, now."

"I-I don't..." Hajime clenched and released his fists. "I don't know." He sighed again, his brain feeling like mush, too numb to think. "Look, Komaeda, I can't deal with you right now. Please, just...leave me alone."

"...Okay." He moved closer to Hajime instead, and whispered into his ear, "But, you know this would be a good moment if you wanted to kill me."

Yep, Hajime was way too tired to deal with this crap. "I'm not going to _kill_ you, now please just _go_." He pushed Komaeda away from him, and he knew he only lightly shoved him--barely a tap--that it shouldn't have been anything more than a suggestion--but Komaeda fell backwards onto a lounging beach chair and tumbled into the pool.

Hajime was going to just leave him there, but the he never resurfaced, almost as if he was purposefully---

"Dammit, Komaeda...!"

He swiped off his shoes, and dove into the water, catching the laurel green hoodie, wrapping his arms around the other boy's waist, and pulled Komaeda up. He broke the water's surface, and gasped for air, hitting Komaeda on his back to make him cough, though he didn't know if that would help, and dragged them both to the edge, where he shoved Komaeda upwards, on the ground, and got out of the pool.

"What the actual hell are you doing!? Are you insane!?"

The other boy wheezed as if trying to simultaneously laugh and breathe. "H-Hin-ata...that's not the way to kill someone... _ahhah!_ Unless your goal was torture, in which case---"

"Shut up. Just, please be silent." Hajime sat down and leaned against a chair. _These are our only clothes...god fucking dammit._ A gust of ocean wind moved the palm fronds, playing with the rustling bushes, and of course freezing the drenched students. Komaeda sneezed. _Damn it, I should just leave him here. If he catches a cold, that's his problem._ He stood up. _...But then I'd have to deal with him delirious._ He walked to where Komaeda was hunched up, eyes closed, still breathing from his mouth. He didn't want the other student to start speaking again, so instead he inched his fingers across Komaeda's forehead, slowly moving his wet bangs backwards, lightly brushing back through his tangles, the soft-rough contrast whenever he pressed against a knot, to see his full, surprised face. Then Hajime offered the same hand to him, and helped Komaeda stand up.

"Don't speak yet."

He shivered as he led them both to Komaeda's cabin, ordering the boy to open his door. Once inside, he dragged them into the shower room, turned on the shower faucet and adjusted the water temperature. He moved Komaeda under the spray and joined him in the tub. Komaeda's brows scrunched and he frowned a bit as the heated water thawed them both.

"Don't give me that look, our clothes are wet anyway, and I need to make sure you aren't going to freeze yourself and get sick."

Hajime stared at the white tiles on the wall, waiting until the iciness left his bones, trying to let his mind rest. When the room's steam became potent enough to overcome any outside chill, he turned off the shower, got two sets of towels from the shelf, and handed one to Komaeda, who hesitantly took it.

"It's probably better if you take your clothes off first and hang them to dry, at least, that's what I'm going to do." He shook the towel over his hair, then wrapped it as best he could around himself, and sighed knowing he would have to brave the night air again to get to his cottage. He turned to leave when Komaeda grasped his shoulder.

Komaeda stared at Hajime, who glared back daring him to speak. Komaeda opened his mouth to say--but he soon looked down and closed it and let Hajime go. And so he left, slamming the door closed, running to his cabin, tearing off and squeezing the water out of his clothes, hanging them, before crashing on his bed to sleep.


	3. Sea and Punishments, Sin and Coconuts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 of Danganronpa Goodbye Despair, plus additional scenes. (Aka the food scenes we were all deprived of.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know that Nagito probably monologued the beginning to Kazuichi and Nekomaru before they knocked him out, but it totally could also be Hajime's dream too. So in this fic, both happen--Hajime probably hears Nagito say everything outside his cottage to those two while dreaming. Also I love Gundham Tanaka <3.

_"For a long time, humans have been taught that if you try hard enough, you can accomplish anything. Even if we weren't told this directly, you'd know it just by looking at the world around us. The internet, TV, and newspapers are overflowing with hopeful messages that say exactly that."_

_"But people who can't win, people who don't try to win, people who try their best and still can't win...they are all worthless trash."_

_"There are two kinds of people in this world: those who are born with worth, and everybody else. No matter how hard a lowly human tries, they will never be the same as someone who was born worthy."_

_"They say that 'effort breeds success,' but that's a complete lie. The world is not that accommodating. No matter how hard a small dog tries, it will never become a large dog. No matter how much a penguin tries, there's no way it will ever soar through the sky. Which means, unworthy humans will never become worthy no matter what they do."_

_"People with talent don't become talented, they're just born with their abilities right from the start. That's right, just like you guys. That's why I have so much respect for you all."_

_"Ah, just so you know, what I feel is different from admiration. Admiration is...wishing you could be like the object of your admiration. But what I feel is not so self-serving."_

_Komaeda continued to stare at Hajime. "How should I put it? What I feel is...more pure. More like a selfless love that wants nothing in return. So, I want you guys to believe me when I say I don't mind if you kill me, but if that happens, I want you to let me help."_

_"I don't care if the killer survives, or if everyone but the killer survives. I just want both sides to do their very best. I want to see with my own two eyes the absolute hope that lies ahead. Yep, I'm really lucky! Someone as insignificant as me will be there when hope and despair collide, and unleash their energy."_

_"So please, let me help you. If you're planning on killing me, I would be honored to help you carry out your plan. I want you to use me as a stepping stone so everyone can shine. I want you to kill me in a way that befits---"_

"OH SHUUUUT UPPPP!" Hajime tightened his fist and punched Komaeda in the jaw. He was prepared to hit bone and flesh, but instead he felt fluff. _Huh?_

He opened his eyes to his hands tormenting his pillow. He saw his clothes swaying from the breeze through his open window, and hoped that they were dry. He put on his still-damp shirt and pants, stepped out of his room, and slowly trotted towards the restaurant. The gloomy atmosphere surrounding the place infected his appetite, and he only drank some juice as the students conversed, with Komaeda notably absent, then left to explore the new island.

* * *

While walking, Hajime sighed. _Nidai and Soda were super suspicious today when I asked about Komaeda...they must've kidnapped him sometime this morning..._

He thought of all the ideal locations on first island to house the other student, as he strolled on the bridge to second island. _If it were me, I'd hide him in Togami's room, Hanamura's would work too..._ He smacked himself. _No, stop! You don't care about him. He's bound to escape anyway, he's too smart not to...it's more important to see if this new island contains any way for us to escape._

Hajime explored the new areas, noting that the Pharmacy's first aid kits would be useful. When he stopped by the library, creaking its old wooden doors open, and spotted the broken statues, he couldn't help but think if Komaeda would declare even the library to be too dangerous-- _No, stop thinking about him!_ He managed to contemplate the growing strangeness of Jabberwock Island while he investigated the diner and the second beach spot. But when he cornered Soda in the beach house, of course he had to ask about the missing student.

"Hey, Soda, about Komaeda...I haven't seen that guy all day. You know where he is, don't you? So where did you put him? Togami's or Hanamura's cottage?"

Soda burst, pointing straight at Hajime. "I-I don't know...Seriously, don't ask me. Who cares about that crazy-ass bastard anyway!"

_I do! No wait, I mean I don't...dammit._

"W-We need to search this island first and foremost! There might be a way to escape! So let's just end all annoying talk right here! That's it! All done!" Soda stormed off somewhere, and Hajime followed after him, only to bump into Nanami who summoned him to the ancient ruins.

Once there, looking at the ruined faux-Hope's Peak Academy, and hearing Monokuma's declaration of the world-ending terrorist group, Hajime felt the mysteries of this island close in on him. _Is there really a traitor in our group? From that organization...?_ His clothes were still not completely dry, and the evening gales pierced him. He shivered, and briskly walked back with the rest of the students to their cabins.

Togami's cottage was next to his, and it was easy to knock on the door and say, "Komaeda! If you're in there, please tell me!"

No answer. He tried Komaeda's cottage and Hanamura's cottage to the same results. When he was finished, Hajime was freezing. _Maybe he's gagged? No...even so, he still could've given me some indication. Maybe he's somewhere else, but where...?_ He bit his lip and sighed. _I hope he isn't outside..._

He sneezed and thought, _I need a shower..._ and headed towards his cabin, to the restroom. His body ached from walking all day, though the soreness was mitigated somewhat from the shower's heated water. He rested his head against the white tiled wall. _I'll find him tomorrow...and then what? Demand answers? Listen to his ramblings? Get angry as he antagonizes me again? How do I even interact with him now? Do I even want to?_ The last question was false and he knew it. He wanted to see Komaeda again, either to make up for pushing him into the pool or for some other reason, he didn't know. _I'll figure it out tomorrow._ He did the same routine as the previous night, and immediately went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Hajime made his way back to the restaurant after briefly listening to Tanaka's sermon on their departed classmates. He met Nidai in front of the old cottage, sweating and fidgeting suspiciously.

"G'morning, Nidai."

"OOOOOHHHHHHH!?" He flinched. "Wh-What is it Hinata...do you need to talk to me about something?"

"What's wrong? What are you so surprised about? Something about the old building?"

"O-Oh no! No need to worry! I'll head to the restaurant first...Gahahaha!" Nidai ran inside the restaurant, in record time.

_Definitely suspicious. Then does that mean they stashed him in there!?_

Hajime chatted with Mioda and Sonia outside, then Koizumi and Nanami in the lobby, before grabbing breakfast at the restaurant. The students talked about the weird revelations yesterday before moving on to the traitor.

"Of course!" Nidai yelled, pointing straight at Hajime. "In fact, that so-called traitor is tied up at the moment and can't move at all!"

_Sigh...I knew it._

"Um...Could you be referring to Komaeda, whom we have not seen since yesterday?" Sonia fidgeted with the lace of her dress.

Nidai bellowed, "Who else could it be!? Komaeda's the traaaaaaitor!!!"

"What about that other part?" Hajime retorted. "Where you said he was tied up and can't move?!"

"AW CRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAPPPPP!!! H-Hey, Soda! What should we do!?"

"Dumbass! Don't rope me into this! They'll find out we worked together to... _Aw crap!"_

Hajime halfheartedly glared at Soda. "What? Why did you two do this?"

"W-Well...you know..." Soda raised his fist. "There's no way we can let him run around free! I mean, he tried to put us all in danger, you know!"

Nidai added, "Hanamura committed a murder because that guy tempted him, right...? So that makes him a killer too!"

"No, it doesn't!" Hajime retorted.

"A-Anyway, it's still necessary to deal with him in an appropriate way." Nidai glanced at Soda, who nodded.

The rest of the students also acquiesced to their shenanigans; their indifference to Komaeda's predicament was palpable.

Koizumi pressed her hands against her hips. "Anyway, where did you two tie up Komaeda?"

"Th-The dining hall..." Soda grasped his beanie. "In the o-old hotel building..."

Nidai growled, "He needs to reflect on what he did at that place..."

Giggling, Saionji said, "So you're saying it's better to kill off a troublesome ally before they turn into an enemy."

"Gyaaah?" Mikan cried, "You killed him!?"

 _N-No..._ A cold sweat streamed up Hajime's back. _The body discovery announcement requires three people, so...could it be? Is Komaeda...? No..._

"Argh! He's obviously alive! I only knocked him out so we could tie him up!" Soda exclaimed.

"Then what shall we do with Komaeda at this point?" Pekoyama gestured to the students. "Let's hear everyone's opinion."

"Hmm...it's not safe to let him walk around freely." Koizumi looked to the floor. "There's no telling what he'll end up doing next..."

"He's also the most likely person to be the trai~tor!" Saionji sang.

"So isn't it okay if we keep him tied up for a while?" Owari asked while chewing.

_Well, he does need to be monitored for a while, but is tying him up really necessary?_

"If so..." Sonia pondered, "It seems it would be better to watch him for now."

"I agree." Hajime glanced at all of them. "More importantly, has he had anything to eat or drink today? You guys fed him yesterday, right?"

"I-I know that already..." Soda mumbled.

"Well, when I checked on him this morning, it seems like he was still sleeping." Nidai scratched his cheek. "But I left a breakfast tray next to him for when he wakes up." He awkwardly chuckled.

_At least that's something..._

The students started aggravating Kuzuryu for being suspicious, before leaving the restaurant to do their own things. Hajime stayed for a bit, then left for the old hotel building. Once there, he examined the office, kitchen, and storage room, and saw that everything reverted to how it was before. _It was just recently that we were all having fun here..._ He stopped in front of the dining hall and placed his hand upon the metal door handle. _Komaeda is tied up beyond this point...do I want to see him right now? Am I even mentally prepared for it?_ Hajime looked down and sighed. _I shouldn't go inside..._ He pushed the doors open and stepped inside.

The tables were gone, no bloodstains on the floor either, but the carpet remained. _At least the room's still clean..._ Komaeda lay on the floor, hands chained behind his back, feet tied with rope. The ends went around the carpet, beneath the floorboards, tied to some sort of weight. The green-grey student was hunched together, asleep, his parka closed and hoodie over his head. _Heh, he looks almost innocuous like that...fragile even, if you don't pay attention to the chains. Still, that can't be too comfortable._ He quietly stepped back and silently closed the door, walking to the rows of cabins for the students. He briefly considered Hanamura's cottage, before deciding on Togami's, and summoned Monokuma to open the cabin. He went inside their former leader's room, swiped the pillow, and headed back to the old hotel building without anyone seeing him. Back inside the dining hall, Hajime carefully placed the pillow beneath Komaeda's head.

"Hmrghh..."

He froze, unable to breathe, fingers still touching Komaeda's jacket, but the other boy didn't wake. _Good._ He noticed that the jacket was still slightly damp. _Probably because it hasn't been in the sun at all since getting drenched._ He slowly glided his fingers across the parka, to the small opening beneath Komaeda's collarbone, and grasped a piece of his T-shirt, rubbing it between his thumb and index finger. _Pretty dry._ He moved his hand to Komaeda's jeans, and repeated the motion. _Not completely dry, but better than the jacket._ He realized that the other student still had soaked shoes on. _That can't be comfortable._ Hajime lightly grasped Komaeda's ankle and inch by inch, removed one shoe, noiselessly placing it on the ground, checking for any indication that Komaeda was about to wake. Finding none, he did the same with the other leg, and again silently exited the room to place the shoes to dry outside. He leaned against one of the wooden columns framing the deck, chewing on his lip.

 _There is one other thing I could do...but then he'd most definitely wake up...but he's not going to be able to eat with his arms tied against his back...I could at least tie them in the front or loosen them a bit..._ He sighed. _If I'm going to do anything, now's the time before he wakes up._

He re-entered the dining hall, exhaling in relief when seeing the other boy still asleep. Hajime crouched down behind Komaeda, looking at the coils of chains around his wrists, the end hook buried deep under the layers of chain. Even the thickness of the chain looked improbably wide, way too sturdy for Hajime to even attempt to unravel it. _Yep, nothing I can do there, but at least..._ The rope was tightly bound against Komaeda's legs, but with his shoes removed, Hajime was able to slip a couple loops off, somewhat loosening the rest.

He then moved the breakfast plate a little closer to Komaeda, but not too near, so that the other student wouldn't accidentally roll over it in his sleep. _He should be able to eat a bowl of cereal with his hands tied, but how did Nidai expect him to drink this?!_ Hajime opened the carton of orange juice, stuck the straw inside, then left the room. _Now, what should I do today? It's still bright out, and I don't feel like staying in and doing nothing...maybe I should try going somewhere..._

__

* * *

That evening at the restaurant had everyone debating over who would bring Komaeda dinner. _To be honest, I was really glad he was completely asleep this morning...I'm still not prepared to deal with him right now..._

They continued to bicker, until Koizumi finally condescended. "Jeez, if none of you boys are going to be responsible, I'll do it." She snatched the dinner tray and exited the restaurant, coming back in a flash. "Hmph, see? That wasn't so bad..."

 _I doubt that._ Hajime stirred his pasta around on his plate as he tuned the other students out. Komaeda's actions, his gestures, his words, his laughter of the previous days haunted his mind, as it had been since he left the sleeping boy that morning.

_The way the stirring water in the pool reflected against his face before I pushed him in, illuminating and shadowing his features like a dance of light and darkness, hope and despair..._

Hajime shook his head, attempting to dispel that thought. He rested his hands against the back of his head and leaned backwards, staring at the ceiling, blowing air out of his lungs. _If I get the reasons why he did everything, why he acted that way during the trial...will he finally leave my thoughts alone?_

Monokuma's summons startled all of them, and they slowly trudged to Jabberwock Park, except for Owari and Sonia who raced there, trying to get his nonexistent curry dinner. Gathered together, the students waited with trepidation as Monokuma announced the next motive for murder: his arcade game, Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. When the mad bear left, they all deliberated about playing verses not playing the game. Soon enough, the curfew announcement rang, and they all decided to call it a night and head back to their respective cottages.

_A motive to kill someone...is doing nothing at all correct? Or is trying to stop it from happening while being aware of the danger correct?_

He opened the door to his cabin and prepared for sleep. _No, the better question is, am I prepared to risk myself to try and prevent another incident? Am I so sure of myself that no matter what that game contains, I won't be affected? I won't be manipulated to violence?_

 _It's easy to say 'of course not,' but I'm sure Hanamura also thought the same..._ He lay on his bed in darkness, the ocean waves crashing in the distance; he fully stretched his palm upwards, fingers spread wide, and gazed at the back of his hand against the black ceiling. _The truth is exactly what Komaeda said. I don't entirely know myself. I've never been in any life-or-death situations. Hell, I've barely made any choices that would affect someone else, much less myself. Going to Hope's Peak was supposed to change that..._ He put his hand back down, and closed his eyes.

 _But that means I don't know what I'll do if I'm pressured into snapping or breaking down...I can only have faith in myself that I won't, that no matter the circumstances, I will never hurt someone like that._ Images of that night with Komaeda flashed in his mind, and he sighed. _At least, not intentionally...and if I do, then of course I'll try to fix it and help them...that's the best I can do._

 _Then, that means..._ Hajime yawned, and before sleeping, thought, _I should have courage...and faith in myself...and see what Monokuma prepared for us...so that this time I will stop any killings...from happening..._

* * *

The next morning, Hajime left his cabin for the restaurant only to walk into Kuzuryu. "Hm? Oh it's you..."

"Tch, how unlucky," Kuzuryu said spitefully, "I have to see your face this morning. Just so you know, I don't want to talk to you at all. I'm in a really bad mood right now..."

Hajime saw that he was heading for the main gate. "You're not going to the restaurant now, right? Are you planning to go somewhere else?"

"Shut up. Like I said, I don't want to talk to you...I'm just going back to my cottage. Leave me alone."

Kuzuryu turned back to the cottages and as he passed by him, Hajime said, "You say you're going back, that means you went somewhere?"

"It's got nothing to do with you, didn't I tell you I don't want to talk?!" Kuzuryu balled his fist and brought it upwards, still walking towards his cabin.

Unfazed, Hajime responded, "Is it that game?"

Kuzuryu froze. "Wh-What do you mean...?"

"So it's true. Then, what do you have in your hand? That envelope, what's inside?"

"You...shut up!" He hid the envelope behind him. "What makes you think you have any right to question me?!"

"I-I'm not trying to _question_ you. I was just..."

"Tch, are you saying you don't like the fact that I acted on my own, without consulting you guys?" His face reddened. "Is there something wrong with that, huh? Are you gonna tie me up like Komaeda?"

"S-Seriously, I didn't mean..."

"Dumbass, don't talk to me ever again! If you do I swear I'll fucking kill you!" Kuzuryu stormed off, slamming the door to his cabin shut.

_That guy is going to be dangerous if we leave him alone...I'll let everyone know, maybe have Pekoyama or Sonia watch over him for a while._

He left for the restaurant, conversing with Tanaka outside and Tsumiki and Nanami in the lobby before heading to the second floor. Once there, however, only Koizumi was present, holding a tray filled with breakfast foods.

She beamed at Hajime, saying, "Ah, nice timing! I've been waiting for somebody to come by at a time like this."

"Waiting...huh?"

"Um, I was thinking about delivering this..." She held the tray out towards him.

"Toast with packaged butter and jam...and bottled milk? How do you suppose Komaeda will eat this?"

She sighed, deliberately avoiding that question. "Yeah, like how long are they planning to continue this?"

"Well, there's no way we can keep him tied up forever. Three days should be enough..."

"Yeah, that's what I thought at first. But maybe it's better if he was tied up forever."

"...What does that mean?"

"I actually went to see Komaeda earlier. I kindly brought him breakfast...And then, listen to this! He seriously pisses me off!" She leaned towards Hajime, frowning. "He said he doesn't like rice so he wants toast instead! Doesn't he understand the situation he's in right now!?"

Hajime struggled to suppress his laughter, grinning instead. _That's so like him._

"Ah...so that's why you're running back and forth...that must be _so hard_ for you."

"It's not funny! Here, you try it." She shoved the tray towards Hajime. "I was forced to run back and forth too many times...I'm done being his maid." She looked aside and murmured, "Not only that...I just remembered that I have a little business to take care of."

"Business?"

"Sooo thank you!" Hajime grasped the tray before she dropped it. Koizumi then walked out of the restaurant, saying, "I'll leave the rest to you!"

He sighed. _I guess he's definitely awake now..._

Hajime piled some tangerines on the plate and took a small spoon for the spreads, and left for the old hotel building. He checked on Komaeda's shoes lying on the porch, found that they were dry enough, and carried them with one hand, grasping the tray with the other. Inside, he completely slammed into Monomi who appeared out of nowhere.

"Oofh! H-Hey, watch it! You're lucky nothing spilled..."

The bunny started panicking, holding her arms out to block the hallway. "Aw, sorry Hinata! But you can't go inside! This old building is being renovated."

"Then why is Komaeda inside?"

_And where were you yesterday!?_

"Ha-wa!? You know about it too, Hinata?" She tapped her paws together, sullenly. "C-Cuz Nidai and Soda earnestly told me that 'Monomi's the only one we can rely on.' And, it's true that Komaeda needs to reflect on his actions..."

"Look, I came here to deliver food to him. You don't want him to die from starvation, do you?"

She flinched. "S-Starve! Ha-wa-wa!"

"Can I finally go inside now?"

"Y-Yes! Make sure you tell him to chew thoroughly before he swallows!" She vanished.

_Good riddance..._

He stepped further inside and paused, taking a deep breath in front of the dining hall doors. Hajime gulped back dry saliva, steeling himself for whatever was going to happen on the other side. He then placed the elbow of the arm carrying the shoes on the handle, and quietly and slowly pushed the wooden door open, glimpsing Komaeda waiting for him with a big smile splashed across his face.

"...Hinata?"

He was in the same position as yesterday, scrunched up like a coiled snake, the pillow a few feet away. His parka was open and the hood placed back. _He probably got Koizumi to do that...but why is he still lying down?!_

"Ah, could it be...? Did you take time out of your busy day to bring some food to little old me? You even brought my shoes, too! Wow, I'm so happy!" Komaeda tried to shrug. "As you can see, I can't exactly greet you with my full hospitality...but feel free to relax."

_This time, I can feel the venom falling from his mouth, the lies..._

"Huh, what happened, Hinata? Your face looks kinda scary..."

Hajime sharply exhaled. "Look, do you want this food or not?" He placed the tray next to Komaeda, the shoes by the student's feet. "So come on, eat it."

"Huh?" Komaeda looked up at him and teasingly replied, "You're not going to feed me?"

"Wh-What do you mean!?" A blush crawled up his skin.

"Well, I can't eat it on my own. You know, since my hands are all tied up..." Komaeda moved a smidge closer to Hajime. "Actually, I was really embarrassed to ask a girl to feed me, so I'm glad _you're_ the one who came."

_So this is what Koizumi has been dealing with...it would be somewhat funny if it wasn't happening to me right now..._

"Anyway, what happened to Koizumi? Did she leave saying she had some business to take care of?"

"Huh? Why do you know that?"

"By the way, I heard about...Twilight Syndrome Murder Case, was it? I have mixed feelings, I really liked that game a lot."

"Stop avoiding the question, I'm asking you--"

"Oh well, I'm a little disappointed." Komaeda's stare hardened. "It's not like you Ultimates to ignore the threat that's standing right in front of you. So are you really planning on not playing the game? Do you think Monokuma will just let that slide?"

"Of course I'm planning on playing it. What are you getting at?"

"Good, you guys should confront it! After all, hope springs from despair."

_Huh...he seems...calm enough now to sound almost reasonable._

"Komaeda..." Hajime settled down on the floor, next to the other boy, looking off to the side. "I-If I feed you, will you promise to honestly answer my questions? Please?"

"Hmm, that's a tempting offer." Komaeda pushed himself off the floor, sitting up. "But of course I'll accept. How could I ever say no to you, Hinata?"

"See, that's what I'm talking about. Stop falsely exaggerating."

"But it's true!" He earnestly faced Hajime.

_Argh...that's probably the best I'll get from him...this better be worth it._

"Fine." Hajime opened the packets of butter and jam. "I'm probably going to regret asking, but do you want butter or blueberry jam on your toast?"

"Butter! No wait, jam. Or no, I think I want..."

Hajime glared at Komaeda, two seconds away from giving up and leaving, when the green-grey student remarked, "You know, I think I'd rather have _you_ decide for me."

_I can feel a headache building..._

He picked up the blueberry jam, and used the mini-spoon to spread it over the toast, before grabbing the slice and pressing it against Komaeda's mouth, muttering, "Don't forget to chew thoroughly before swallowing."

Komaeda slowly took a bite out of the toast, deliberately chewing for as long as he could, before finally swallowing. He swiped some jam from his lips with his tongue. "So, what did you want to ask me?" He took another bite.

"Your plan for the party...did you seriously intend to kill someone?"

"You're not going easy on me, are you." He crunched on a bigger piece, tantalizing Hajime with his ridiculously slow chewing.

Hajime didn't have the patience to wait. "Look, let's assume you did. If we pretend that Togami couldn't see you, Hanamura stayed in the kitchen, and you were able to grab the knife, then the only person close enough to the table that you could reasonably stab in the dark...was me."

Komaeda swallowed, but instead of answering, bit an even larger piece. Only half of the toast was left. _That trick isn't going to work much longer._

Hajime tightened his other hand into a fist, continuing, "But you said it yourself, it would've been impossible to carry a tablecloth with you and hide it without drawing suspicion afterwards. So if you killed me, you would've had incriminating bloodstains all over you." Komaeda still chewed, and Hajime regretted uttering Monomi's words at him. "And even though you don't care about your own survival, you do care about making the trial interesting. So despite what you told Hanamura, that couldn't have been your plan."

"Taking into account all that you've said, the only remaining outcome is..." His hand wavered as Komaeda continued to chew, then swallowed, then bit another piece of toast, all while staring directly into his eyes. Hajime glanced down at the tray, knowing that his conclusion was correct, but still hoping there was another explanation. "Is that you planned to kill yourself, easily framing me for your murder."

And Hajime could imagine it happening. Standing in the dark of the blackout, sensing Komaeda nearby. Maybe the other student would tell him something, before plunging the knife inwards, spraying something warm all over Hajime, collapsing on the ground as the lights turned back on, dead.

He remained silent, listening to the sounds of Komaeda masticating, and placed the remaining toast back on the tray, waiting for the other boy's answer.

Komaeda finally swallowed. "Ah, Hinata! As expected of an Ultimate. To think, you spent so much time mulling over _my_ insignificant words! How remarkable!"

"Cut the bullshit, Komaeda, or that's all you're eating."

Komaeda slammed his mouth shut against any protest, before opening it again. "Even if that's true, it's pointless to discuss something that didn't happen." He inched a bit closer. "Hinata, I want some milk now."

"Well, humor me." Hajime unscrewed the cap, bringing the bottle closer to Komaeda's lips. He sighed again. _Dammit, I'd rather not ruin his clothes again..._ Using his free hand, Hajime thumbed the rim of Komaeda's jaw, tilting it slightly upwards.

"I'll pour it slowly so try to tell me when you've had enough." He moved the lid of the bottle into Komaeda's mouth, and let a light stream of milk out. Komaeda swallowed around the bottle a couple of times before twitching his face slightly away, enabling Hajime to put the glass down without spilling a drop.

He was about to ask his next question before a sudden giggle escaped his lips.

"What is it?" Komaeda asked, his brows slightly scrunched.

"Ah, no, sorry!" He laughed through his nose, still smiling. "It's just that you have a small milk-mustache."

Komaeda blushed and hung his face down for a moment, then lifted it back up and sheepishly replied, "Can you wipe it off?"

"No, I think I like this new look you've got."

"If you don't, I won't speak to you."

"Heh, fine." Hajime grabbed the napkin and pressed it against Komaeda's skin, absorbing the milk there. "What a shame, for a moment I almost believed you were a normal high school student."

When he backed away, Komaeda said, "My luck has never allowed me to be _normal._ " He spit that out like it was poison.

"I can imagine, the other kids must've hated you for being so fortunate."

Komaeda glared at Hajime. "No, I am the Ultimate Lucky Student. That means I get the ultimate forms of both good and bad luck."

"Oh."

_I guess that makes sense? It would explain why he got dragged into this mess._

"Anyway," Komaeda sighed, "Enough about my boring talent. You have other questions, right?"

"But--"

_No, wait...this might be the only time he's this cooperative. I can ask more about his talent later..._

"Okay." Hajime picked up a tangerine and started peeling it. "I want to know why you kicked me out that morning." He popped a slice in his mouth and held another, waiting for the other boy to answer the question.

Komaeda glanced at the fruit. "I don't like citrus."

"...What?!"

_He really enjoys being difficult and utterly contradictory, doesn't he?_

Hajime ate the other tangerine slice and grabbed the almost-eaten piece of toast. "Just tell me why, and I'll..." His embarrassment flushed against his neck, slowly infecting his face. "Start feeding you again."

Komaeda smiled wide. "Well, Hinata, you are just so _noble._ If I told you my plans, you would've ratted me out to Togami. And I'd probably be in the same situation as I am now, only with no trial. No battle between hope and despair with your hope victorious." His eyes started to swirl. "How awful that would've been."

"But you told me you believed in collecting the Hope Fragments! Why did you lie to me? Why let me believe in you?"

"Heh, those fragments...Tell me, would you really put your faith in something so fickle? We've been talking for a while now, haven't we? But neither of us has gained another fragment."

 _What? That can't be true..._ Hajime pulled out his handbook and checked, but Komaeda still only had two fragments.

"I doubt Monokuma would give us enough time to figure it out. I mean, even if getting a fragment was just based on time spent alone with someone, how many days would it take for everyone to gather every fragment?"

_With fifteen other students, each having five fragments to unlock...if I could spend time with two people per day, then..._

"...it would take over a month to collect all of them."

Komaeda beamed. "That's right! Togami must've thought the same, too."

_Is that why he didn't announce it sooner...?_

"Then why didn't you say anything to me on the bridge?"

"Well you were just so _hopeful,_ Hinata. I couldn't _help_ but watch that grow and then...collapse." Komaeda shivered. "That defeat made your new hope that much more powerful!"

"Y-You?! That's crazy...!"

Hajime dropped the toast on the tray and crawled backwards, before standing up again. _I really need some time away from him right now._

"Sorry, Komaeda, but I don't want to be tricked by you anymore. Bye now."

Hajime left the dining hall as the other student called out, "Ah, hey Hinata? Weren't you...planning to feed me? Heeeey Hin~ata!"

Back in his cabin, Hajime felt a migraine pounding. _Is talking to him going to always give me headaches now? Still...I can't stop thinking about what he said._ He sighed. _For now though, I have some free time...I think I'll check out the arcade machine this evening, so until then, I should probably just rest first, then go out somewhere and maybe check up on Kuzuryu, or at least tell someone to keep an eye on him..._

__

* * *

Throughout the day, Hajime failed to distract himself enough from thinking about his conversation with Komaeda. _I forgot to ask him about how much of his interactions with me were just his manipulations, his lies...and how much weren't..._

 _But I don't want to see him again this soon..._ He snorted. _If I have enough faith in myself to risk learning Monokuma's motive, what does it say about me when I don't have that same faith to risk spending time with Komaeda? He riles me up so easily, always..._

_Still though, I was right...Komaeda's not a killer, nor does he plan on harming any of us, at least not physically. His machinations all involve himself, on sacrificing himself for...hope? But what does that even mean?!_

_His...his lies to me, his provocations, his blatantly hyperbolic behaviour...can I forgive them...? Ignore what happened and move on? Try and understand him better so I can realize it faster and stop it? Do I even care about what he actually thinks of me? Of any of us?_

_But, to get us all off this island, to beat Monokuma once and for all...we truly need to work together. And in his own, twisted way, Komaeda also wants that...he just thinks we need to overcome despair first to get stronger. But we shouldn't need to be stronger, we should be able to defeat this sick game with our own strength, with teamwork...why can't he realize that?_

Hajime chewed on the inside of his mouth. _We also can't just ignore him, lock him away, forgetting about him, about what he represents...Even if he secretly hates us...hates me, I should still try to convince him, try and get him to work with us instead of making himself an obstacle for us to overcome...Why can't he see that his death won't bring us hope? None of them do..._

_Man, enough of this brooding. I should just distract myself until tonight. Maybe Tanaka's free...I think he was in the ranch? Or Pekoyama's probably in the beach house..._

* * *

That evening, after the curfew announcement, Hajime decided to go to Jabberwock Park, noting that according to the map, he would be alone there. Unfortunately, he bumped into Nanami immediately upon exiting his cabin.

"Huh, Hinata? Where are you going at this hour?" She glanced behind him, not finding anyone else. "The Monokuma announcement was just made..."

"Well, you know...what about you, what are you doing?"

"I was about to go back to my cottage." She gestured behind her. "Anyway, what about you? What do you mean, 'you know'?"

"Ah, um..." He swallowed. "I felt a little hungry, so I was thinking about getting a snack from either the restaurant or supermarket..."

"I see."

"So, I'll be going now...see you later." He walked around her.

"Hinata." Hajime glanced back, into her hard stare. "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow."

_She totally knows what I'm about to do..._

He exited the hotel, briskly walking the long way to the bridge, passing the supermarket. He was just about to step onto the bridge, when he ran into Koizumi.

"Ah, Hinata...!" She startled.

"Koizumi, what are you doing here?"

_And where do you guys keep coming from? I swear you weren't on the map last I checked..._

"Ah, yeah...about that..." She held her camera up. "Um, I was thinking about taking a picture of the ocean at night."

"The ocean at night...isn't it dangerous? Be careful."

_Great...now I sound like Komaeda...when he's calmer, at least._

"Yeah, sure thing...bye." Koizumi left in the direction of the hotel.

_She seemed pretty agreeable. Usually she'll say something like, 'Mind your own business'...I hope nothing's wrong..._

Hajime crossed the bridge, arriving in the park. This time, he was left alone as he made his way to the arcade machine. The screen immediately lit up, as if knowing that someone was in front of it. He grabbed the joystick, and began playing.

_'Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely intentional'...? What?!_

The title screen booted up, with a melancholy tune playing. He pressed the start button, and began controlling a high school girl, scrolling through her dialogue with the other girls as they...

_Th-This is...? Are these characters covering up a murder?_

Specks of blood splashed onto the screen as Girl E ran from a ghost, then a graphic photo of her slumped, dead, head bludgeoned by a baseball bat, filled the monitor, before showing a game over screen.

"Huh? This is the end?"

 _I don't get it...even the game's structure doesn't make sense, starting with the second day then jumping to the fourth. Moreover, what's with this 'down five' message on the game over screen? This game's a side-scroller, there's no way to move down five...Maybe they mean someone is down by five? I don't get it at all...but that photo, and that message at the beginning...is this game based on real events?_ Hajime backed away from the arcade machine, determined to think about what he saw in his room.

On the way back, Hajime felt hazy and disoriented. He collapsed on his bed trying to figure out why, but he fell asleep instead.

* * *

_Morning, huh...In the end, that game is still a mystery. I should just talk to everyone about it today..._

He briefly talked with Tsumiki and Mioda outside, and Saionji and Nanami in the lobby, before heading to the restaurant. Nanami agreed to take Komaeda food today, so at least Hajime didn't have to see the other student so soon again.

At breakfast though, he lost all chance to bring up the video game when Saionji bashed whoever would even think about playing it; and before he realized it, Soda perched across from him.

"Hey, Hinata. Got a second?"

"What is it?"

The mechanic leaned forward out of his seat, making sure no one else would hear, and whispered, "Today, at 2:30, come to the supermarket, but don't tell anyone else about it."

 _Really? I have to be subjected to_ this?

"I'll tell you the details later..." His eyes whisked across the room in paranoia. "Everyone else can see us right now, it's bad..."

_You talking to me like this is already clearly suspicious!_

Sure enough, Tanaka walked up to them. "Hey, what are you lowly creatures discussing amongst yourselves?"

"N-Nothing!" Soda started to sweat. "I-It's got nothing to do with you, so just relax and go away..."

"...Hmph, did you think I was worried about you fiends? Fuhaha, you make me laugh! Laugh, I say!" He began laughing. "You've elevated arrogance to an artform! What sort of supreme ruler feels concern for the ants who are destined to be crushed!? Shiver before me! My name is Gundham Tanaka! I am the forbidden ruler who makes even the god of darkness flee in terror! All I desire...is silence and indifference..." He brought his hamsters up close to his face, and spoke to them with a soft smile. "Silence...and indifference..."

_I never took him for the lonely type...how adorable._

Soda turned back to Hajime as Tanaka left. "Anyway, that's what's happening, so I'll see you then." He leaned a bit closer and said, "Just so you know, make sure you conserve your energy."

"...What?"

"I'll see you later!" He sprinted out of the restaurant.

 _I never agreed to anything!_ Hajime covered his face with his hand. _Damn, I should probably see whatever it is, shouldn't I? But I have a feeling that I'm going to regret it..._

After breakfast, Hajime wondered how to spend his time until 2:30 pm.

_I could talk about the game with Nanami...but she's probably dealing with Komaeda right now...Well, I guess I shouldn't wander too far...and conserve my energy, whatever that means...Maybe I can see if Tanaka really prefers to be alone..._

* * *

In the afternoon, Hajime entered the supermarket. _What idiotic plot is Soda thinking about now? And keeping it a secret from the others...I don't want to think about it, but if he's plotting to..._ He gulped, looking for the other boy. _No, there's no way someone as carefree as him would do something like that...right?_

"Huh...?" It was well past the arranged meeting time, but there was no sign of Soda anywhere.

_W-Why am I feeling so anxious? It can't be, because of that game...?!_

"Yo!"

"W-Waagh!"

"Whooooooooooooa!?" Soda flinched back. "H-Hey, wh-what the heck! Don't get all pissed off just cause I was a little late!"

"L-Late...?"

_Oh I get it...I totally forgot he's that kind of guy. A guy who doesn't mind showing up late even though he's the one who asked me to come...that kind of guy._

Hajime listened as Soda described his notorious plan for 'coincidentally' spying on the girls swimming.

"Sorry, Soda, but I don't feel like going to the beach right now..."

"Hey! I took the time to prepare your swimsuit, you know! A-And now you're just going to walk over my kind act?!"

"You're snapping at me?!"

He pointed at Hajime. "If you say no, I'm gonna bug you about it until you die!"

_...He's probably not joking either...Damn, this will be embarrassing._

"Since I have no choice, fine...let's get this over with."

Soda whistled, happy at finally getting his way. He then told Hajime that they were going to wait for the girls to show up at the diner on second island.

"Yahooo! I'm getting all excited now!"

_That makes one of us, I suppose. Looks like he really can't take a hint._

The boys made their way to the diner, and sat down in the first booth. Hajime waited five minutes before inquiring when exactly the girls were supposed to show up. At Soda's mention that they planned to meet around 4:00 pm, he almost tried to flip the table.

 _4:00 pm!? I have to wait one whole hour with this guy, doing nothing!? I'd rather be with Komaeda...No wait, I mean..._ Hajime winced, and re-examined that thought, finding that yeah, actually he would rather be with the curly haired student.

_At least Komaeda can keep quiet. Plus, I didn't get to check his clothes yesterday, though I'm sure that his jacket should be dry by now..._

"E-Er...earth to Hinata?" Soda scratched his cheek. "You're keeping watch over the beach entrance, right?"

Hajime sighed. "Yes, yes..." He rested his chin in his hands, and absentmindedly stared out the window.

_I really should've just said no..._

Every five minutes was punctuated by Soda's incessant hounding, but Hajime was able to tune him out soon enough. He let his thoughts wander back to Monokuma's game. _If we assume that the game was based on real events, then who would it be targeted towards? Obviously it wasn't me...Well, there were five girls, so maybe it's for one of them? Koizumi has been a little off lately...she wasn't at breakfast this morning, too. Then, I guess it's good that I'll see her soon. I really need to quit finding excuses and tell them about it..._

At 3:30 pm, Kuzuryu walked from the beach to the front of the diner. Soda and Hajime met and angered him, before Mioda and Tsumiki showed up. And of course, Soda acted like the suspicious stalker he was to the girls. Before Hajime realized it, Kuzuryu disappeared, and the other students decided to wait in the diner.

_Dammit, can I leave now? I'm really worried about Kuzuryu, he didn't look alright..._

Soda dragged Hajime back to the diner before he could protest. He sat by the same window, feeling utterly bored and anxious. The students started talking about swimsuits and Hajime remembered that he wasn't wearing one. Soda shoved an army green speedo at him.

"Wh-What is this thing!?"

He got the sudden urge to light it on fire. That impulse exponentiated when Soda exclaimed that it matched his. Hajime seriously wished he was anywhere else but here...and that was when he spotted Saionji in tears, running across the parking lot. He was about to chase after her, when he heard Mioda say that neither Saionji nor Koizumi were going to join their swim party.

"Huh? That's unexpected. In fact, Koizumi would totally plan this sort of thing..."

Mioda scrunched her hands. "But it can't be helped! Apparently she wasn't really feeling well!"

_Great...not only is my one reason for staying here gone, but I've got a really bad feeling about all this...I should see what's wrong with Saionji._

Hajime attempted to leave again, when Nanami walked in wearing a white, frilly bikini which gracefully highlighted her ample curves and voluptuous skin.

_W-Woah! She's really beautiful in that...!_

Owari, Pekoyama, and Sonia showed up too, all wearing swimsuits. When Sonia allowed Soda to participate in their party, he immediately burst from the diner to the beach to prepare. Hajime also left, but he couldn't find Kuzuryu or Saionji on his map.

_In fact, besides Soda in the beach house and the girls at the diner, the only other person displayed is Komaeda...This must mean it has an off switch somewhere..._

_"*Ding*Ding*Ding*Ding*"_

_N-No! That alarm!_

He sprinted towards the beach house, trying not to think...

"A body has been discovered!"

He tried to open the door nearest the road, but something was blocking it on the other side. He raced to the other door and pulled it open and saw...!

Koizumi surrounded by blood leaked from her head. A baseball bat was by her feet, along with a weird sailor mask.

_No! This can't be happening!_

"W-Why did this happen to her?!"

* * *

Staring at the body, Hajime's teeth clenched, face stiffening. He started to wobble. He couldn't hear what Soda said, his eyes couldn't focus. Then he heard footsteps, a lot of them, belonging to more than one person. Someone shrieked.

"Hold it! Those things beneath you...be careful not to step on them. You know, the footprints in front of that door. That's probably an important clue, so don't step on them." Nanami said, in her regular clothes.

Monokuma shortly appeared, announcing that another class trial was imminent. As he left, the remaining students despaired over investigating another one of their friends again.

_I-I need to get it together...Koizumi deserves to have the truth behind her death revealed..._

"The only thing we can do is investigate." Nanami pointed at all of them. "Cuz...we should never forgive that. Killing...is something we should never forgive."

_She usually has her head in the clouds, so for her to say something like that...she probably can't forgive this at all. But, that's true of me too._

Nanami continued, "Then, let's begin. Who killed Mahiru Koizumi? Why was she killed? We gotta find out and solve this already."

* * *

Hajime interviewed everyone in the beach house before finally examining Koizumi's body. _She's lost all life in her body...it's as if...she's a shell..._ He slapped his cheeks with both hands, and faced her body one more time, chronicling all the irregularities he found. Hajime then examined the metal bat and the mask on the ground, before turning to the closet and the shower. He knew that he should've spoken to Nanami at least about the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case before...but, _No, now's not the time for regrets...!_ Nanami called out to him, and he followed her out to central island to play the true version of the game, careful not to disturb any incriminating footprints. They walked there in silence, too worried about the case to say anything more.

As Hajime neared Jabberwock Park he thought, _No...those colors...it couldn't be...?_ And quickened his pace, entering the park to see---

"Why hello there Hinata, Nanami. I'm glad you guys are doing well." Komaeda smiled and waved at them.

"K-Komaeda?!"

"Heh, it feels like...it's been a long time since I was able to talk to you two like this." He crossed his arms. "Even though we haven't spoken for just a few days...did you two miss me?"

_What 'few days,' it was only yesterday!_

Nanami asked him, "Why are you here?"

Hajime moved a bit closer to Komaeda, and touched his parka, slightly above his elbow, running his thumb against the cloth, oblivious to the other students' stares. Feeling that it was dry, Hajime inched back and said, "You've been alright, then?"

Komaeda tilted his head a bit at Hajime, then relaxed and said, "Well, there's no need to worry about a loser like me..." He sighed. "More importantly, did you hear? Apparently Koizumi got killed this time. Jeez, how horrible. She was the heart of our group, always spirited and very eager to talk..." He hugged himself, placing a palm exactly where Hajime touched him, and shivered. "For her to be killed, if only I could have taken her place, I would've gladly done it..." He then spread his arms out wide, fake-theatrically, and said, "But still, you guys will be able to shine because this outcome is full of despair, right!? Cause no matter how dark the despair, hope can shine much brighter and stronger!"

Hajime stole a glance at Nanami before looking back at Komaeda. _Is it just me, or is he starting to make more and more sense every time I speak with him...?_

"Ahaha! Though I do feel bad for Koizumi, this is quite exciting! How will everyone overcome despair this time?"

_Scratch that. It's more like every time I think I've understood him a little bit more, he says something that makes him incomprehensible again..._

Nanami puffed her cheeks replying, "Looks like you feel no remorse."

Hajime asked, "Why are you here, Komaeda? Who let you out?"

"Y-You guys don't have to make that scary face. I'll tell you, you know..."

_I didn't think my face was that scary..._

"It was Monomi."

The pink and white rabbit appeared, agreeing with Komaeda.

"D-Did I do bad?" She sullenly said, "I just wanted everyone to get along...and, you know, cooperate..."

Hajime sighed, "No, that's fine...he should've been released by now, anyway..."

_I'm a bit mad at myself for not realizing that Monomi could've broken or at least loosened those chains easily..._

"Ah, I did good then! That's right, cooperation among friends is how you'll defeat Monokuma once and for all!" She spun around for a bit, singing nonsense, clearly happy with herself. It was a bit annoying.

"Hinata, you shouldn't glare at her like that..." Komaeda brought his palms up defensively. "She makes a valid point, too..."

"Yeah, you're also so big on cooperation, right?" Hajime sarcastically said.

Komaeda froze, still smiling, hands out, before dropping them, becoming serious again. "A-Anyway, now's not the time for us to concentrate on trivial matters. There's going to be a class trial for Koizumi, right?"

_This poorly evasive bastard..._

Monomi sang, "That's right! That's why everyone must work together and have Monokuma--"

"Enough!" Hajime shouted, glaring at the rabbit. "Just, please go away already..."

She started crying, saying, "U-Understood," before vanishing.

"Good riddance." He glanced back at Komaeda, ignoring Nanami's judgmental stare. "Have you already seen the arcade game? If not, do you want to investigate together again?"

"Oh, Hinata...how nice you are to invite trash like me to stay with you! But I already saw the true ending of that game, and since I assume you've finished investigating the murder scene, there's little we can cover together if we both want to find as many clues as we can..."

"Then you're leaving for the beach house now?"

"Well, it'll be a little lonely, but I guess I'll do just that and try to be useful in my own way."

Nanami piped up, "Who do you want to be useful to? The killer? Or us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Komaeda walked away, saying, "I will always be on the side of hope."

Hajime kept staring at Komaeda's back until the other boy disappeared from sight, completely oblivious to Nanami's questioning glance.

"Hinata? You seem very concerned for Komaeda...?"

He scoffed. "Of course I am. Who knows if he's going to interfere with the crime scene again. I just feel like it's important to watch over him."

She looked at him like she only believed in half of what he just said. He sighed again. _It's not like I was looking forward to hearing some of his insights on this case, too..._

"A-Anyway," he turned to the arcade game, "we should forget about him and just start playing the game already."

"Fine, I won't question you now."

_Now? Doesn't that imply there'll be a later?_

Nanami enlightened him on the secret to the command, 'down five', and Hajime finally unlocked the game's true edition. He played through the missing first and third days, gaining a better understanding of who those characters were. Seeing the credits only confirmed his suspicions.

_These names...? If we assign them to the characters based on their personalities then Girl A, a ditsy girl who takes a lot of abuse from Girl B, would be...Tsumiki? Which would make Girl B Saionji...Girl C then would be Mioda, and Girl D, the one taking photos, would be...Koizumi. That leaves the two Kuzuryu's and Sato. Well, Guy F seems like he would be Kuzuryu, so then the only two characters left are Girl E and the first victim. Would Kuzuryu kill his own family member? No, he mentioned he had a little sister who he spoke of fondly...Then that means that Girl E was Sato, and the girl who died in the beginning, Kuzuryu's sister?_

"You look like you've figured it out, Hinata."

Monokuma then suddenly popped up, confirming Hajime's suspicions on the game, and adding that the events took place during those school memories they had all forgotten. The bear mentioned an ending prize given to the first person who beat the game, before he disappeared.

_But is it really true? We've already lived our school lives, and our memories were taken away? Is something that crazy really possible? Then...what did they do to us?_

"It looks like there's something on your mind. Komaeda, perhaps?" Nanami questioned.

"What? No..."

"Hmm. Well, Monokuma probably said the same thing to everyone else who's beaten this game, that it's nonfiction...that it's the 'missing link' that existed in our forgotten school memories..."

"So do you believe it? Do you really believe our memories were taken?"

"I don't know, but instead of thinking about that right now, we gotta focus on solving this mystery first. Whether we believe it's the motive or not, it's clear that a murder did occur."

"Then we should question those involved."

"The people who's characters appear in the game, right?" Hajime nodded and Nanami continued, "Then I'll go too."

They walked out of the park, but Hajime, on spying that same familiar color palette, raced forwards.

"Why hello there Hinata and Nanami. We meet again." Komaeda smiled at him.

Hajime smirked back. "You were waiting here, weren't you?"

"Ah, so you caught me? Well, I came to take you up on your offer to investigate together. If you've beaten the game, we must think similarly, right?" He looked down at his raised palm, continuing, "No, maybe I'm being a little too conceited. A guy like me thinking similarly to you guys..."

"No, you're right, that's exactly what I was thinking. Plus, if we question them together, it will be easier for all of us."

Nanami just glanced back and forth between the two, ignored for now, as Komaeda lowly beamed at Hajime, replying, "Oh, good. There was an airport on first island, right? I told them to meet up there."

She then decided to join the conversation, and asked, "You guys've been talking about the characters in the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case?"

Komaeda answered, "Yep. As Hinata said, they must be busy with their own investigations, too. It's more efficient if we both questioned them, no?"

"Then walk with us, Komaeda." Hajime replied.

His eyes widened. "You want me to accompany you?" He glanced at Nanami. "Are you really okay with that?"

She tilted her head. "Yeah, I think it would be good if we went together."

Komaeda swallowed. "A-Alright then. I'll try not to get in your way."

They walked back from the park to first island in silence, Komaeda flanked by Nanami and Hajime. The spiky haired student couldn't help but occasionally glance at Komaeda, looking away before the other student noticed. Nanami, of course, did.

_Even though he did help the killer in the past and I have no doubt he'll try to do the same during this trial...I believe that he truly thinks he's 'on the side of hope.'_

Hajime stole another glance, running his eyes over the curve of Komaeda's neck, contrasting it with the folds of his parka and the twists of his hair.

_These aren't legitimate trials, but court cases have both prosecutors and defense attorneys. Is it really so reasonable to hate him for trying to defend a supposed culprit?_

He looked at the sky for a few moments, before gazing down at the lines and bumps of Komaeda's right hand, the dips and edges of his knuckles, his small wrists peeking out from under the folded sleeves, the tapping movement of his fingers against his thigh.

_It's life or death for us all, we can't blindly rush into a verdict. So although his reasons for doing so are questionable, I don't hate him for that._

They were coming down from the bridge, and Hajime looked at the wooden planks, slowing his pace a bit against the decline, lagging a half-step behind the other students, sneaking another stare at Komaeda. His eyes followed the sagging lines of Komaeda's hood to the creases across his shoulders, the thick faded red numbers against the green, his puckered waistline, and torn endings. Nanami raised an eyebrow at him, and Hajime diverted his attention back to walking before she could get more suspicious.

_He was pretty obvious when he wanted to derail and shut down that last trial. If he tries to pull that off again, I know neither I nor Nanami will allow it._

The group landed on first island, walking past the beach, when Hajime asked, "Komaeda...you said before that you will be 'on the side of hope.' Then, does that mean you'll be on our side if I prove to you that we're correct?"

Komaeda slightly raised the corners of his lips and gazed at Hajime. "If your hope is truly stronger, then of course I'll be by your side."

Nanami's mouth opened somewhat in shock, as Hajime looked away, sighing.

_Yeah, that's probably the best I'll get from him on that...Does he dislike straight answers that much? Or does he just enjoy being cryptic? The more I question him, the more I start to think it's a bit of both..._

Once they arrived at the airport, they saw most of the students who were represented in the game milling around. _Tsumiki, Mioda, and Saionji are all here..._

Komaeda said, "I really wanted Kuzuryu to come too, but he locked himself in his cottage and wouldn't come out for me. So unfortunately, he's absent...it's probably because I'm so incompetent...I apologize."

Hajime touched the other student's shoulder. "Hey, no. He hates me too, so I doubt I would've gotten anything from him." He glanced at Nanami. "You might be able to reach him, if you want to try...?"

"If we have time after questioning these girls, then I can try." Nanami raised both fists for courage.

"Huuh? It's okay to be absent? I thought you said we'd get executed if we didn't come?" Saionji wailed. 

"...Executed?" Hajime glanced back at Komaeda.

Tsumiki added, "I mean...you said Monokuma had something important to tell us, right? W-We came because you told us that..."

Komaeda chuckled. "Sorry! That was a lie!"

_I really need to remember to always keep my guard up around him...Still, it was pretty effective._

The girls protested, before Saionji gave up and started to leave.

"W-Wait!" Komaeda reached out half-way. "Can you wait until we've finished our business with you? Right, Hinata?"

_So that's the real reason why he needed Nanami and me to be here with him..._

They questioned the girls, learning about Koizumi's own plans to meet with 'everyone.'

Komaeda tapped his chin. "I see, looks like we've obtained some pretty valuable testimonies. Based on that, it seems Koizumi also beat the game."

Hajime nodded. "Yeah, it seems like she wanted to gather all these girls together like this."

"But still..." Nanami looked sullen. "In her case, it was much more serious...probably. I mean, she was forced to learn that she was involved in that game." She tilted her head to the side. "But I'm surprised, I never thought Koizumi would play it..."

"True, that would be unexpected..." Hajime narrowed his eyes at Komaeda. "But she did talk with you a lot, Komaeda. Did you also try to convince her to play it?"

Komaeda's eyes widened and he tilted his head. "Huh? What?"

_...What? Now I'm confused...this shouldn't be so shocking...?_

"When we spoke, you already knew about the game and that Koizumi left to take care of some important business. Given your feelings about learning the current motive, it makes sense to assume that you must've tempted Koizumi into playing the arcade game."

Komaeda's brows frowned, and he pointed straight at Hajime. "Tempt? That's rude...and disrespectful towards Koizumi!" He brought his hand back, making a fist, and vehemently said, "There's no way her feelings would change just because a useless guy like me talked to her."

_What? That contradicts almost every interaction you've had with everyone on this island?!_

Komaeda continued, "At that time, she was already considering giving that game a try. All I did was give her a little push..." He tossed his finger back up at Hajime. "That's all it was! I never tempted her to do anything!"

_Why does he want to downplay his influence on Koizumi so much? Especially after blatantly admitting to manipulating both Togami and Hanamura last trial?_

"...Okay, I believe you didn't try to tempt _her."_

_But you certainly tried to tempt me._

Komaeda nodded. "Good. More importantly, isn't it better if we listen to what she has to say? She's being quiet as ever..."

The group walked to Saionji, and Komaeda asked, "If Koizumi spoke to everyone who appeared in the game, she should've talked to you too, right?"

Hajime added, "Well, Saionji?"

"Kyahahaha! She never talked to me at all!" Saionji smiled. "Man, what a surprise, I didn't expect you to ask me such an easy question. Soooo, I'm just gonna go back to my cottage now! Bye!"

"Ah, hey! Saionji!" The dancer left the airport, ignoring Hajime's protest.

Komaeda laughed. "Looks like...it's okay to say she ran away. Clearly suspicious, that's pretty much decided."

Hajime said, "You're talking about the gummy bear found in the beach house's closet?"

"Hmm, perhaps." He smiled. "Regardless, it looks like we're finished here, so why don't we part ways for now?"

"There's something you need to investigate alone, isn't there?"

"Yep. I'll see you later." Komaeda left the airport before Hajime could ask him to stay.

"Ah! Hey!"

 _Man, would it kill him to stay and talk for a bit longer?_ Hajime then remembered the rules of the class trial. _Actually, yes, I guess it might..._ He sighed, and turned to Nanami.

"Well, what do you think we should do? Go back to the beach house and investigate one last time, or try and catch Kuzuryu?"

"Both those things are important, but let's go to Koizumi's cottage first. If she beat that game, it's best if we check if she has the ending prize."

"Alright. If we have time, we can also see if Kuzuryu's still there."

Nanami pulled up her hood and nodded; the students made their way to the rows of cabins at the hotel, and entered Koizumi's room. A pleasant smell wafted through the air, and dozens of photographs were pinned across the walls. On top of the bed laid the same envelope Hajime saw Kuzuryu carry yesterday morning. They both agreed that it must be Monokuma's ending prize; inside were photos corresponding to scenes from the arcade game--proving that the game was based on an actual murder.

A note describing how to get to the true edition of the game fell out of the envelope, confirming Hajime's suspicions.

"Kuzuryu must've been the first one to get this prize. Then he sent it to Koizumi with these instructions in order to get her to realize what her friends did to his sister..." Hajime scratched his jaw. "Which means that this envelope is what really caused her to play the game."

Nanami clenched both fists in determination and said, "We have a bit of time, so let's go question him!"

Hajime smiled, resolved to get to Kuzuryu before Monokuma summoned them all to start the trial. He dashed to the door, opened it, and sprinted into--- _smack!_

The first thing Hajime felt was the taste of something soft, wet, and slightly metallic against his teeth and tongue. Next was the smell of sweat and sawdust and sand mixed with a breath of sunlight. His chest was smushed against a thin cotton fabric that couldn't hide the touch of pliable, firm skin beneath. His eyes locked onto long whipcord black lashes surrounding a sea of laurel green shadows and lights with a dark ever-growing center. He only heard the pulsing roar of his heart caught in his throat, choking him. He felt a gasp as he dragged his mouth back. And stood there. Staring at Komaeda.

_......_

Nanami grabbed both of their arms, trying to drag them towards Kuzuryu's cottage. "We don't have time for you guys to glitch right now, c'mon." She tugged a few times before giving up, sighing. "I'll let you know what I find out during the trial, then..." She walked to Kuzuryu's cottage, out of sight. The boys still stood there, not moving, until Kuzuryu's yelling in the distance somewhat snapped Hajime back to reality.

"A-Ah..." Hajime tipped his head forward a smidge, reflexively, causing Komaeda to badly flinch back and yell, "Footprints!"

It took Hajime half a minute to reply, "Wh-What?"

Komaeda continued to back away, harshly grasping his arms, his nails white as they dug into his jacket, looking at everything else but Hajime. Breathing irregularly, he blurted, "Th-The killer's footprints...! I found out who they are. Go to the beach house if you want to know." He turned and fled, vanishing in seconds.

_What just happened...?!_

_......_

_No! I can't think about this right now...! Not when Koizumi needs me!_

_I need Tsumiki's autopsy report, and I need to find out whatever Sonia was researching._

Hajime repeated the words _'autopsy report'_ in his mind, concentrating on nothing else as he trusted his feet to move him towards the beach house. At the diner's parking lot, he saw Tanaka slowly pacing back and forth, looking at his feet. Hajime made no attempt to slow down and speak to him, but Tanaka glanced up at him with a beaming smile. He sighed. 

"Fuhahahaha! I was right."

"Huh?"

"I already assumed you would come here..." He pointed at Hajime. "There is nothing you can hide from me, the Supreme Overlord who wields the Four Dark Devas of Destruction." He smirked. "Thus, I know everything. For instance, I happen to know you fiends...were preoccupied with your infantile beach play...!"

Tanaka glanced away, hiding his mouth in his scarf. "It matters not, for what I love is silence and solitude...That's right...That's it...that's precisely it..."

Hajime left him there, saying, "I'll make sure to invite you, next time," as he made his way to the beach house. He vaguely heard Tanaka say something about Pandemonium.

He exited the tunnel, following the stone road around the house, thinking of nothing but _'autopsy report'_ over and over again. The shadows cast by the house quickly gave way to rays of sunlight as he rounded the corner. His eyes focused on the yellow monitor in the distance, the blue and white parasols, the murmurs of the waves. His feet kept walking, and they turned him left, forcing him to confront Komaeda kneeling down next to the beach house's sandy porch.

He inhaled, forgetting how to breathe; his heart, forgetting how to beat. He still tasted Komaeda's blood against his teeth.

_Autopsy report. Autopsy report. Autopsy report. Autopsy report. Auto--_

He exhaled and his feet carried him forwards. At more than a yard away he squeaked out, "K-Komaeda?"

The other boy turned around, face blank, not looking directly at Hajime, and said, "Ah...Hinata? You actually appeared..." He dug his nails into his palms. "No, I suppose I should be grateful that you decided to show up despite _touching_ my absolute dirty, disgusting, unworthy, pitiful--"

Hajime grasped Komaeda's chin and pressed upwards, closing his mouth shut. Komaeda glanced at him in surprise, then quickly looked away. Hajime teared his hand back and winced and glared at his misbehaving hand and said, "Look, I'm really sorry about slamming into you like that, I wasn't paying attention and..." He swallowed. "A-Anyway, um...it won't happen again."

Komaeda exhaled. "You can do whatever you want with me, Hinata. I don't mind..."

 _"I mind._ If I ever accidentally injure you or make you feel uncomfortable, I expect you to tell me, okay? And of course I'll tell you the same, too."

The other student remained silent, still not looking at Hajime. He then relaxed his fists and said, "We need to go inside and speak with Sonia and Tsumiki about the results of their investigations." He turned and entered the beach house without looking back to see if Hajime followed.

_Damn, that wasn't the best apology I could've given..._

Hajime opened the door and immediately heard--

"...Komaeda?!" Sonia exclaimed, covering her mouth with her hand.

"Whoa!? Why the hell are you here!?" Soda stepped back, screaming.

"Why hello there, Soda...Thanks for going easy on me earlier." Komaeda's face contorted into something similar to a smile. "Thanks to you, I was able to walk away with just mild bruising. You clearly think like an Ultimate.

_...Bruising?_

Soda continued to back away, slamming into the wall behind him. "Ughhhh...this bastard...!"

Sonia ignored him, saying, "You two have arrived at a good time." She drew up an arm and flexed it. "Big news! I have discovered something very terrible!"

Tsumiki mumbled, "U-Um...not only that..."

_Autopsy report...?_

"I believe...it's nothing like Sonia's but there's something...I noticed, too..."

Hajime followed Komaeda, and the boys spoke with Sonia first, learning about her theories on the murderer--a serial killer named Sparkling Justice.

Pekoyama crossed her arms. "Anyway, so you're saying it's possible that this serial killer is the one who killed Koizumi?"

Komaeda refused to look at Hajime, and replied, "Which means...there's a serial killer hiding among us? I'm pretty sure I've seen a twist like this in some video game..."

Hajime snorted. "This is stupid. Serial killer, my ass...The killer just used it to cover their face."

Komaeda glanced at him quickly, before darting his eyes elsewhere. "...But even so, they sure chose something that stands out."

Pekoyama sighed. "Although it's easy to write this off as foolish, it might be best if we exercise some caution. Sonia, can you tell us everything you know about this so-called Sparkling Justice?"

Sonia repeated the serial killer's catchphrase, and informed them of their unknown and ambiguous characteristics. The boys then walked to Tsumiki.

"Tsumiki," Hajime questioned, "you have something for us, right?"

"W-Well...compared to the others, what I have to say isn't that important...S-So please don't get your hopes up and be disappointed..." She cringed, trying to hide her face in her hair.

"I get it, so just get on with it."

She nodded, and added a bit more steel to her voice. "Um...I tried my best to perform the autopsy, and I was able to find out..."

_Autopsy report!_

"...Koizumi was definitely killed by a blow to the head. She was probably...struck from behind by one blow...Based on the scar, the weapon is clearly the metal bat." She squeezed her eyes closed. "B-But every dark cloud has a silver lining, as they say...um...it looks like she didn't suffer."

Hajime tilted his head. "What does that mean?"

Her eyes flicked to Koizumi's body. "Ah, um...there's no doubt that...she died instantly."

At that revelation, Komaeda and Hajime glanced at each other for half a second before Komaeda realized it and immediately looked elsewhere, while Hajime stared at him in confusion.

"A-And...there's another thing I found..." Upon seeing the boy's faces, she gasped. "Ah, I'm sorry I started talking on my own! Were you two busy right now?"

Hajime sighed. "...Just tell us."

"U-Um...during the autopsy, I discovered this in Koizumi's pocket." She held out a letter from Saionji telling Koizumi to meet her at the beach house at 2:30 pm, and to keep it a secret from everyone else. At that, Komaeda left to examine something else.

_Hmm...this definitely proves that Saionji is suspicious, or at least a deliberate red herring..._

Hajime pressed the bridge of his nose, and exhaled. He walked to the glass table, where Komaeda currently was. _Alright, I've stalled long enough..._

He asked, "You were talking about footprints earlier?"

"Ah, yes. Follow me."

They walked to the entrance of the beach house, and Komaeda kneeled down again.

He said, "After listening to everyone's stories at the airport, I went to a certain place...Well, it's probably better to say I snuck in..." Komaeda risked a glance upwards at Hajime and tried to hold it for more than a few seconds and failed, looking at the sand again. "To everyone's cottages."

"...Our rooms?!"

The other student exhaled sharply. "I told Monokuma I needed access for the investigation, so he simply let me in." He began placing papers with everyone's footprints outlined in black next to the preserved footprints in the sand.

"Th-Those footprints...so you snuck into everyone's rooms to sample them."

"Well, almost everyone. Kuzuryu wouldn't leave his cottage so I couldn't complete it. Though I guess it's no big deal. After all, it seems obvious that they belong to Saionji."

"Then the reason why you summoned her to the airport...?"

"Yep, I needed to lure her out of her room. She shut herself inside there, and I doubted anything less than a threat from Monokuma would've gotten her to leave. Plus, I figured if I lured her out, she wouldn't be in a hurry to go back."

Hajime snorted, smiling. "You're treating her like a small animal."

Komaeda, still looking at the footprints, twitched the corners of his lips. "But it was totally worth it, the footprint I collected there was smaller than anyone else's and it matches these ones. There's no mistake, these prints belong to Saionji."

He brought his hand up, finally looking directly at Hajime. He grazed his fingers against Komaeda's, grasping his hand, and pulled him up. Komaeda paused, searching for something in Hajime's eyes, not finding it, and then continued, "Also, it's not like I was snooping around or anything..."

_You totally were, don't lie._

"What did you find?"

He took out a packet of gummy bears. "Her room was filled with these candies."

"But...?"

"Well, they come in four different flavors: strawberry, melon, grape, and orange..."

"Not lemon?"

"Right. And it seems she really likes this brand of gummies. There should have been other gummy brands, but she only brought home a bunch of these."

"Huh."

Komaeda shrugged. "People are like that sometimes. There are people who'll only eat the same brand, even if it's just potato chips."

Hajime blurted, "Do you have a favorite?"

"Brand? I can't say I do...but I love things relating to hope, of course!"

_...What does that even mean?_

Monokuma's alarm rang throughout the monitors.

"The Time for Unparalleled Hedonism...has come to an end. Come! Now is the time to Fight the Decisive Battle! The..."

Hajime ignored the rest, and followed Komaeda and the rest of the students to central island.

"Don't worry, Hinata." Hajime glanced at Komaeda as he continued, "No matter what the outcome is, hope will win in the end!"

_That's...a very optimistic way of viewing it. That even if we all die here and the killer escapes, it would be alright since they would have hope on their side._

"You really believe that after the trial, the survivors won't succumb to despair?"

"How could they? Ultimates fighting such an intense battle between hope and despair...of course they will overcome all despair and use it to strengthen their hope in the end."

"...Because we're Ultimates?"

"Exactly. Boring, talentless, ordinary people would break from a little despair. But not you guys!"

"And not you, either."

Komaeda clamped his mouth shut in surprise, causing Hajime to inadvertently stare at the thing he was avoiding for so long--the small imprints of teeth breaking skin, cutting Komaeda's lower lip. The other boy pulled it into his mouth, slowly pushing it out with a wet shine--

"Agrrggh!" Soda yelled, pointing at Hajime. "Stop inciting him! I can't take his nonsense anymore! I swear I'll call Nidai here if he says another word!"

Hajime snapped back, looking away, making sure the only thing he thought about was his own footsteps. When he neared Monokuma Rock, he allowed himself to think about the case. _So...Koizumi goes to the beach house at 2:30, potentially meeting Saionji. Then, she's killed there at 3:00. Around 3:30, Kuzuryu walked from the beach, and a little after, Saionji also left from the beach house. We know she was there because of her distinct footprints leaving the house._

_Moreover, based on the way Koizumi died, we know her death is connected to Monokuma's game, the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. From the ending prize found in her room, we can surmise that Kuzuryu most definitely has enough motive to kill her...But why leave that mask? He's not one to hide his face like that..._

_There's also the question of Tsumiki's autopsy report. Koizumi died instantly, meaning the killer was the one who dragged her body across the floor in order for it to look like Koizumi crawled to the door. But why was that necessary?_

He glanced at Komaeda, thinking back to what he said about footprints. _By blocking that door with Koizumi's body, they ensured that whoever was inside the beach house after the murder, but before we discovered the body, would leave footprints in the sand._

 _But...wouldn't that just incriminate the killer? Unless..._ He remembered investigating the shower room with Owari. _If they used the window there to exit onto the stone path, that would imply something like Saionji helping Kuzuryu escape, then incriminating herself? That can't be right..._

The group arrived at Monokuma Rock and were immediately greeted with Saionji's wailing. Kuzuryu finally showed up, too. Hajime saw Komaeda smirk, and knew the other student was just about to say something to rile Soda, which would probably result in him getting punched.

"Now then, let's keep our spirits high! So we can one day find that _shining_ hope!"

_Huh, that was a lot tamer than I expected._

Soda just glared at him and stepped onto the escalator. Hajime followed Komaeda up. _Ah never mind, it was just aggravating enough that Soda would look like a bully if he tried anything. Nice work._

Inside the elevator, as it shook and rattled downwards, Hajime couldn't help but feel a bit of despair creep into his heart; it felt like a rotten fruit swelling in the sun, clinging onto life before someone finally squished it. His imagination had Komaeda reach down and with agonizing slowness, crush his heart while smiling, staining his fingers with drops of Hajime's blood and tissue. His breath stopped. A building pressure pressed against the inside of his skull, fading out his consciousness. He swayed backwards, the elevator rocking him to the right. A warm hand steadied him, and he opened his eyes to Komaeda's worried glance.

"Ah, thank you..."

Komaeda nodded, then released him as the elevator's vibrations gradually weakened. The doors opened, revealing a bluer room, with the same iPad and golden throne, but with a new beach theme. The students took their assigned seats, and Monokuma began the class trial.

* * *

The students focused on the motive first, the Twilight Syndrome Murder Case. Komaeda explained that the game was based on true events, and Hajime listed out who among them corresponded to characters in the game.

"Ah, that reminds me..." Komaeda glanced across the room. "Wasn't there another person whose last name was also Kuzuryu?"

Hajime responded, "You mean the second Kuzuryu on the staff role?"

"Correct. Care to tell us what it means?"

"Well, in the game Guy F mentions he has a little sister, who is also the game's first victim."

Resting his elbow on his palm, Hajime continued, "Based on Guy F's tone, it's clear that Girl E is not his little sister. So if the only person left is the dead high school girl in the beginning, then she must be Kuzuryu's sister."

Kuzuryu objected vehemently to that, refusing to believe that his sister was dead. Komaeda just sighed, smiling a bit at the yakuza. "I see, so you're never gonna accept that that game is based on true events, huh? Okay, I understand your attitude toward this class trial now!"

Nidai scratched his cheek. "Komaeda, you seem to be doubting Kuzuryu a lot. Do you suspect he's the killer?"

"A mystery that easy would make me feel sad. It wouldn't be good enough to serve as everyone's stepping stone...That's why I'd be much happier if he wasn't the killer!"

_Regardless of that, did Kuzuryu kill Koizumi? He could have positioned her so that he exited through the same door she blocked. But no...she was sitting exactly upright, so if he used that door to leave, she should have tilted to the side..._

Monokuma interrupted the trial to focus on the murder of Girl E. Komaeda flared one hand outwards. "Then let's hurry up and solve it! Let's first figure out why Girl E was killed."

Hajime said, "Because she's the killer. Girl E killed the first victim in the game."

Komaeda nodded. "Which means Girl E was killed as revenge for the dead high school girl." He then asked Kuzuryu what he thought about that, and the yakuza expressed his doubts on how Girl E killed the first victim. Komaeda added, "In order to make that clear, we need to know more about the case involving the first victim's murder."

Nanami pulled up a map based on the high school's rooms, covering the music room's surroundings, and explained the events of the first day in the game.

He beamed at her. "Yep, an understandable explanation! Just as expected from the Ultimate Gamer who excels at clearing games!"

The students talked about what Girl E must've done after killing the girl inside the music room. Nidai said she escaped the room by breaking the window, but Hajime countered that.

"First of all, the sound the girls heard wasn't the window breaking, it was a vase. The same vase discovered in the classroom next to the music room."

Komaeda added, "Actually, the murder was nearly finished by the time the four girls met in the entrance hall. Girl E killed the victim in the music room, broke the window, and went to the office to get the key. She then locked the music room from the hallway, returned the key to the office, and then broke the vase in the next-door classroom, moving back to the hallway as the four girls met by the entrance hall."

They all agreed that that was how Girl E was able to trick the others into thinking the murder just occurred. Monokuma interjected, telling them to focus on the murder weapon. Around the room, everyone voiced possible and improbable murder weapons until Mioda suggested about killing her with gravel. Hajime agreed with that, saying that the killer must have used the missing swimsuit and the gravel in the smashed fish tank as a makeshift blackjack. The mad bear confirmed that theory.

Crossing his arms, Komaeda said, "But the real important talk begins now...Girl E had someone who can be called an accomplice. That person was actually Girl D."

Hajime nodded. "The broken vase, a key piece of evidence, Girl D got rid of it."

Nanami added, "And, apparently the reason Girl E committed murder in the first place was to 'protect' Girl D. She was being harassed by the victim, Girl E found out and tried to stop it, and they ended up getting into an argument..."

Nidai glanced at the Ultimate Gamer. "And she felt a rush of anger and ended up killing her..."

"But she should've had a clear murderous intent." Komaeda shook his head. "I mean, she choked her out and then bludgeoned her to death."

Tsumiki commiserated on Girl E's unfortunate circumstances, when Komaeda mentioned that the girl was also killed on the game's last day by Guy F. Kuzuryu protested, but Komaeda retorted, "That's all you can say. If that game is telling the truth, it'd be a huge problem for you."

Still, no one could really confirm that the game actually happened since their school memories were stolen. But Saionji believed in it, and accused Kuzuryu of killing Koizumi in revenge. Despite Pekoyama's suspicions, Hajime proved that the game and Koizumi's death were related since Koizumi died positioned exactly like Girl E and with the same murder weapon, the metal bat.

Pekoyama then brought up the possibility that someone unrelated to the game killed Koizumi, essentially framing Kuzuryu for the murder. She accused Saionji of being the true killer. Using Komaeda's footprint analysis, Hajime proved that the dancer was at the beach house at the time of Koizumi's murder, and Pekoyama joined in, noticing that the only steps found were those facing away from the house.

"Meaning that when the owner of these footprints went inside the beach house, they used a different entrance." The swordsmaster leaned on the stand, facing Saionji.

The dancer tried to defend herself, saying she went there early in the morning, but Hajime took out the letter she supposedly sent to Koizumi, telling her to meet at the beach house at 2:30. Soda also mentioned that they saw her leave from the beach at 3:30--plenty of time to kill the photographer in between.

Pekoyama accused Saionji of going to the beach house, waiting for Koizumi in the closet, using the gummy found there as evidence. The dancer exclaimed that she was being set up by the true killer, the one wearing the sailor mask. At that announcement, Sonia's eyes gleamed as she recounted the tale of Sparkling Justice. But the other students largely ignored her and starting hounding Saionji as the true killer. Hajime waited for Komaeda to point out the obvious inconsistency he found, but the other boy remained silent as the accusations grew and grew. He finally glanced at Hajime, arching a brow, as if asking him what was taking so long.

_That's my question!_

"About that gummy, I doubt Saionji dropped it." Hajime listened to the protests before continuing, "It's true she likes to eat gummies, but she only eats a specific brand."

Komaeda finally cut in, indicating that Saionji's preferred brand did not have any lemon flavored gummies. Saionji exclaimed that she doesn't eat yellow gummies.

"That's right, none of the gummy bags in her cottage had any yellow ones." Komaeda smiled as Nanami added that Saionji wasn't the one who dropped that gummy in the closet.

The students weren't completely convinced of Saionji's innocence, and Owari pointed out that Koizumi must've used her last ounce of strength to bar the door so that the killer would leave footprints. However, Hajime was able to use the autopsy report to contradict her story, since her death was instant. Kuzuryu snapped at Tsumiki, accusing her of falsifying the report when Komaeda responded, "I'm pretty sure her death was instant, too. I mean, her injury was only a single blow. That's why Koizumi isn't the one who blocked the door. Someone else used her body to block it."

Hajime waited a moment while Tsumiki wondered who that someone was, seeing if Komaeda was going to clarify. But Komaeda just leaned on the stand, arms crossed, slightly smiling at Hajime, silently beckoning him to answer. He sighed and said, "The killer, of course. They're the one who blocked the door with Koizumi's body. That's why there were bloody drag marks left on the floor."

Nanami pointed out that if Saionji was the killer, and thus the one who moved the body, then she would've had bloodstains all over her. But Soda mentioned that she was completely clean when he saw her. Kuzuryu yelled that she could've used the shower to wash herself, but Hajime pointed out that it would've been impossible since that shower was out of order; he also mentioned that she wouldn't have been able to take off her clothes and kill Koizumi since she also doesn't know how to put them back on by herself, plus changing in the beach house is prohibited. The students finally assented that Saionji was innocent.

Komaeda glanced at the dancer and said, "Hey, Saionji. Now that our suspicions have been addressed, can you tell us the truth? Even though you're not the killer, you still went to the beach house, right?"

"L-Like I said! It was a trap!"

"Yeah, I got that already so...can you give us the details about that trap?"

The dancer then recounted the day's events, revealing that she planned to meet Koizumi at 2:00, but then got a letter saying to change the location to the beach house. So she went there at that time. Displaying the letter Koizumi had on her, Hajime pointed out that the meeting times were different, indicating that neither Koizumi nor Saionji wrote the letters--the killer forged both instead.

"The killer forged them so they could manipulate their actions..." Komaeda gestured to them all. "Yeah, that's how we should think about it."

Comparing both letters, Nanami revealed their similarities in handwriting and content. The students agreed that the killer used these letters to manipulate both Koizumi and Saionji, and the dancer began crying.

Komaeda saddened, looking down. "Really...this is really terrible..." He sighed. "I've offered to help so many times, but the killer this time didn't discuss their plan with me at all...It's all my fault! I'm so ashamed of being unreliable!"

Hajime snorted, "Then maybe you should stop lying all the time."

"That's irrelevant. I promise to truly help any killers in the name of hope."

"Even if I was their victim?"

Komaeda paused looking away, but Hajime noticed the way his fingers twitched and dug into his arm, his throat swallowing, his eyes glancing back to Hajime--all indications of a resigned _'yes.'_

Mioda pouted, "Guuuyyyysss! Flirt later! We have a trial to finish!"

_Who's flirting?!_

Owari punched and caught her fist with her palm. "Don't worry, we can just lightly punch these bastards to death later."

"A-Anyway," Hajime continued, "Saionji, based on the letter, you went to the beach house at 2:00, right? What happened after?"

The dancer said that she was drugged and fell asleep; she woke up in the closet and on leaving, saw Koizumi's body. Nanami asserted that the reason why was that the killer wanted to frame Saionji from the start. Kuzuryu didn't buy it, and Nidai told him to stop being so suspicious.

"Isn't that what a class trial is about?" The yakuza answered. "The only way to survive is to be suspicious, this is where we go to thoroughly doubt each other. So if you believe in each other so easily, then there's definitely somethin' wrong with you!"

"You're wrong, Kuzuryu." Komaeda stood in conceit, looking down at the short student. "We aren't supposed to doubt each other here, we're supposed to work together." He opened his arms and asserted, "The class trial is where we cooperate with each other, work hard, and aim for victory. The killer and everyone else...two hopes attempting to grasp the one, true hope..." His eyes glazed over, swirling, spiraling, spinning, capturing a violent dance of hope and despair. "Two hopes clashing with each other is poetry in motion! That...is what a class trial should be!"

_But...what does he mean by 'hope'? Faith in oneself? In a positive future? I just don't understand..._

Soda paled, pointing and squealing, "S-Seriously, which side are you on!?"

Komaeda grasped the stand, saying, "I'm on the side of the absolute hope that can overcome any despair. And I believe that absolute hope exists at the point where two hopes clash!"

_Absolute hope...?!_

Tanaka rasped, "Your stance is neither white nor black, but gray. And you do not yearn for your life, or even for victory..."

Mioda scratched her hair saying, "Jeez, I never know what he's saying when he's like this!"

Hajime sighed. "For now, let's get back to Koizumi's killer."

The students agreed to revisit Saionji's testimony, and Nanami pointed out that the killer planted the gummy in the closet after the dancer left, meaning that they were hidden when Saionji woke up. Hajime agreed, professing that the killer hid in the closet, inside the surfboard case.

"I agree with that as well." Komaeda smiled at Hajime, eyes back to normal. "There's no way the killer would leave Saionji by herself if they were trying to frame her. If Saionji was left alone and ruined the evidence they planted, it would've messed up their plan. Instead, it makes more sense to think that the killer was hiding in the beach house, watching Saionji."

Owari threatened to punch the other student, but Komaeda ignored her, asking, "Hey Monokuma, can I ask you about something that seems strange to me? As I recall, the body discovery announcement is made when three or more people discover a body, right? Is the killer also included among those three or more people?"

_...!_

_I never thought of that!_

"Y-Yeah...that's true but..." The mad bear seemed sad. "Well...something like that is basically what it's supposed to be..."

Komaeda sing-songed, "You don't sound very articulate."

"Jeez! You're pretty annoying for noticing something like that!"

_No, he's pretty amazing..._

The bear continued, saying that the announcement was only supposed to be used to create a fair trial.

"So you're saying it's unfortunate that I used it for deduction? I understand your excuse, but depending on who actually found the body, it's possible that your 'three or more people' rule could be deadly."

Monokuma fidgeted. "Well...as long as I keep things ambiguous, I can respond to situations with some flexibility."

"Flexibility, huh? So what about this time? Is it three people including the killer or not?"

"Jeez. Fine, fine. You want me to say it? It doesn't include the killer this time, okay?"

Komaeda rested his elbow on his palm. "Which means, three people other than the killer discovered Koizumi's body."

Hajime counted on his fingers saying, "Soda is the one who triggered the announcement, and Saionji also saw her body. So that means one other person and the killer are unaccounted for."

_So... is he implying that someone is covering up for the killer? Or at least, protecting them by hiding key information? But who would do that? I mean, when would they have seen Koizumi's body? The only other person who came from the beach before Soda discovered her body...was Kuzuryu..._

Komaeda nodded. "Exactly. For now though, let's get back to our original topic."

The students discussed how the killer was able to remove their bloodstains; Hajime showed them the trash can filled with empty water bottles, implying that they washed the blood off using the water in those bottles.

_Wait, if the killer soaked their body with water, then the only person who was wet at the time was..._

Komaeda smirked and stared at Hajime. "It seems you've realized who the killer is."

He gulped and looked away, trying to find another answer. "I have my suspicions..."

"See? Just as I thought."

Hajime looked at the swordsmaster and asked, "Pekoyama...is it you?"

He explained his reasoning, mentioning that there were no towels in the beach house, and no other way to dry off in time, and the only one who showed up drenched was Pekoyama. Kuzuryu protested, saying that they still haven't uncovered how the killer escaped the beach house. However, Hajime retaliated with the small window in the shower room, and Sonia added that the killer could've used something to bolster them up. Agreeing, Hajime pointed at Pekoyama's bamboo sword, revealing that it was used as a step stool to help her escape and that she could've recovered it using it's sword bag.

Komaeda nodded. "I see, not just the bamboo sword but even the sword bag too, she used them both to escape. Owari said she's like a ninja, but it's nothing as silly as that." His eyes spiraled a little as he gestured wide. "Simply put, only Pekoyama could've performed this feat! An escape plan befitting of the Ultimate Swordsmaster." He glanced down at the stand. "Even so, how disappointing...If you'd only let me work with you, it would've been an even greater plan."

Pekoyama assented that she was the killer, and before the students cast their votes, Nanami asked her about her motive for killing Koizumi. Everyone witnessed as Pekoyama transformed into the serial killer, Sparkling Justice.

Soon after Pekoyama's rantings, Hajime wrapped up the trial by delivering his closing argument, summarizing the murder's events. The newly found serial killer pressured them all into voting soon after, and she was found guilty. But Sonia protested, expressing her doubts that Pekoyama was Sparkling Justice, and Komaeda agreed with her.

He glanced around the room, ending his gaze at Hajime, saying, "Honestly, it felt a little strange to me too. I mean, there's a distinct difference between what we know about Sparkling Justice and Pekoyama, right? You know, Sonia describes them like this."

_He's again waiting for someone...for me to fill in the blanks, for what he already knows...but why?_

"You're talking about their nationality, correct?" Hajime glanced at Sonia, before responding back to Komaeda. "If she had to translate the catchphrase from their native language, that means it wasn't written in English, right?"

Sonia agreed that the magazine was written in Spanish, and Hajime retorted, "Pekoyama, you're not Sparkling Justice, there's no way that's possible."

Nanami requested for Pekoyama to repeat the catchphrase in Spanish, and when she refused, Pekoyama dropped the facade and became the Ultimate Swordsmaster again.

She rested one hand against the wooden stand. "My duty has already been finished. My duty as a tool has already been completed in full."

Across the room, the students asked her what she meant, until Komaeda said, "She called herself a tool, which means someone else used her, then?"

"Hmph, of course. A tool cannot do anything on its own."

Komaeda nodded to himself. "I see, I finally understand. Well, I did have a sneaking suspicion all along..."

Hajime said, "Are you talking about the 'unknown person' who also viewed the body before the discovery announcement?"

"Yep, that's right. Plus, the fact that Monokuma tried to hide that truth from us by being flexible with his own rules..." He gestured across the room to all of the Ultimates, while saying, "That's such a vital clue that it could alter the outcome of the trial. Like an accomplice, for example."

"No." Pekoyama crossed her arms. "That's not it."

"Huh? Am I wrong?"

"Yes. From your basic way of thinking about it, you are wrong. I'm just a tool. That means I'm just a simple tool to be used by that person."

"Ah, therefore that person would have the strongest motive out of anyone else here, right?" Komaeda smiled at Hajime, waiting.

_Why doesn't he just say the obvious?_

"You're talking about Kuzuryu, right?"

Nanami agreed, but Owari doubted that a game could evoke such strong emotions. Hajime pulled out the ending prize, proving that the game was based on actual events, thus giving Kuzuryu a legitimate motive to want to kill Koizumi. He then announced that Kuzuryu was also the person who first beat the game, thus was the only one who received the ending prize. Agreeing with that, Komaeda added that Kuzuryu also sent the envelope to Koizumi in order to confirm that it was the truth. Pekoyama then declared her true goal.

"I'm not the killer. The true killer, who used me as a weapon to kill Koizumi Mahiru was Kuzuryu Fuyuhiko!"

"I see." Komaeda nodded. "That's what you were aiming for all along."

As the swordsmaster revealed her relationship as Kuzuryu's bodyguard, his tool, his weapon, the other students despaired at the fact that their vote was wrong. It was up to Monokuma to decide if Pekoyama was just a weapon wielded by Kuzuryu to kill Koizumi, or if she was the photographer's true killer.

The students left the stands to try to convince Pekoyama that she was human, not a weapon. They listened as Kuzuryu described their professional relationship, and his perspective on the day's events, how he manipulated Saionji and Koizumi, met with the photographer at the beach house, and then how Pekoyama killed her. Monokuma agreed that her case as his tool was pretty convincing.

Komaeda tapped his chin. "So for Pekoyama, Kuzuryu is your true hope, then? On his behalf, you killed Koizumi, and now you're trying to sacrifice us so that you can protect him." He spread his arms wide and smiled. "Great! You would only go that far because he's your one and only hope..."

She glared at him and said, "Wrong. I have no hope. I am just..."

He laughed. "A tool? Well, even if we ask her, she'll probably just play dumb anyway...So Kuzuryu, what do you think?"

"Huh? A-About what...!?"

"Is Pekoyama just a tool to you? Using that tool, surviving by sacrificing Pekoyama and the rest of us..." Komaeda's eyes fully coiled and coiled among themselves and he shrieked, "Ahha Haahah! Is that your hope?!"

"W-Wha?"

Pekoyama slammed forwards saying, "H-Hold on...! What's the use of asking something like that?!"

"Huh? You seem distressed. A mere tool doesn't panic like that, right?" He pressed his palm against his forehead, moving his bangs back. "Jeez, Pekoyama. Be honest, are you trying to protect Kuzuryu of your own free will?"

Nanami asked Kuzuryu to tell them all the truth, the others pitching in and imploring him as well.

Pekoyama faced Kuzuryu. "Young master, you were the one who ordered me. I just did as I was told because I am a tool. There's no need to hesitate, please just tell them the truth!"

The yakuza remained silent as Komaeda added, "Kuzuryu, this could be considered your ultimate choice. Regardless, either way you'll still lose Pekoyama, but if you insist you're the killer just as she said, you can sacrifice us and survive alone. Or would you rather reject Pekoyama and fight alongside us against despair? Which one will be your hope? Let's hear what you have to say."

Kuzuru scrunched his eyes, looking away from Pekoyama. "I'm sorry, Peko. I guess...I couldn't go through with it after all..."

"Y-Young master!"

"Cause...if that's actually what I have to do to survive...I'd just feel ashamed of myself, a disgrace. It'd mean I can't live without depending on something...I'd just feel disgusted with myself." He stared at Pekoyama. "And...if I admit that, it means you really are just a tool to me. How many times did I tell you...? I don't want a tool given to me by the Kuzuryu Clan..."

"Young master!" She grimaced.

Komaeda glanced at the mad bear. "Monokuma, you knew all along, didn't you? You knew what they discussed. Jeez, well, it's obvious now. I mean, that's why you have surveillance cameras. You were just having fun, huh?"

The bear laughed, nodding 'yes,' and Kuzuryu continued, "Peko, I'm sorry I couldn't fulfill your request. Even though you did all that to provide me the chance to survive...but I..."

She sighed, softly saying, "I had a feeling it would turn out like this."

"Huh?"

"You have a kind heart, despite being a yakuza. That's why you question your position and constantly worry about it. For you to sacrifice someone else just to escape by yourself...I believed you wouldn't accept that so easily." She sadly giggled. "We've been together ever since we were children. Even a tool would understand that."

Kuzuryu took one step towards her. "Th-Then why...?"

"Even so, I wanted you to escape. I wanted to protect you..."

"Peko..."

She smiled. "I am terribly sorry I will not be able to serve by your side until the very end...young master. Good bye."

Pekoyama asked Monokuma to begin her execution, declaring that she will never feel despair. She looked back at Kuzuryu and said, "Young master Fuyuhiko, please permit me to make one final selfish request..."

"Didn't I tell you...not to call me 'young master'...?"

"I want you to remember the tool, Peko Pekoyama, who used to stand beside you...I would like it if you remembered that. Ahahah, that's it."

Kuzuryu clenched one fist. "Tch, how many times...do you have to keep...I don't need any tools..."

She glanced down. "You...did...say that."

Monokuma interjected, "Then let's begin! The punishment time brimming with Despair!"

"Jeez, why don't you get it yet?" 

"This time, for the Ultimate Swordsmaster,"

"You stayed by my side...all this time...Why don't you get it...?"

"Now then, I've prepared a very special punishment for you!"

"I never needed...a sword...or a shield. I never needed...a tool. S-So, you didn't need to become a tool."

"Let's give it everything we've got!"

"You just...you just needed to be yourself. I-I never wanted a tool! I just wanted you! Only you."

Pekoyama's eyes glistened. "...Young master?"

"Wh-Why?! Why couldn't you understand?! We've always been together, ever since we were kids!"

"Let's go! It's...punishment time!"

Kuzuryu reached out towards Pekoyama. "P-Please Peko! Don't go...! I need you! Don't leave me!"

"Young...master?" Tears escaped from her eyes. "...Young master!"

But Monokuma grabbed the Ultimate Swordsmaster, dragging her to her execution. Kuzuryu ran after her, and they were both surrounded by sword-wielding machines which cut and cut into them, Pekoyama shielding Kuzuryu until her last breath.

The remaining students watched it happen, paralyzed, crying out, except for Komaeda who sighed. "For heaven's sake, this is just the worst...jeez, what a waste..." He tightened his fists, biting his cheek, looking down. "This conclusion, what a waste...This is why, she should've just discussed it with me..."

Komaeda brought one hand up, scowling at it. "Dammit! It was supposed to be a clash between two hopes, but it was crushed into something so unpalatable..."

Nanami retorted, "You...you're still talking about that?"

"The hell's wrong with you!?" Owari threatened. "Aren't you pissed that two of your friends got killed!?"

"I am pissed, and I even feel sad and hopeless...But still..."

Hajime noticed the changes in the other boy's countenance and prepared for him to say something entirely insensitive with whorls in his eyes.

"It's going to be all right! This despair is worthless! Even this despair...is just a ladder to a bright, shining future that awaits us! The higher the ladder, the brighter we can shine. That is the unmistakable truth!"

Monokuma giggled. "Calling me a ladder, huh. You say some pretty interesting things. In a way, your misguided thoughts of what hope should be...remind me of him."

"I don't really understand what you're saying..." Komaeda's countenance changed again; he wore a determined expression and pointed at the bear, retorting, "Anyway, I shall make a declaration! We will definitely destroy you." He laughed again. "The hopes of all the Ultimates here will definitely, completely, utterly destroy you. There won't even be a strand of cotton left when we're done with you. That's your future."

Hajime bit back, "H-How? How can you have that much faith in that future when even Kuzuryu just died?!"

"Not yet!" Monomi exclaimed. "He's still alive!"

The students sprinted to Kuzuryu's side, Tsumiki confirming that he was still breathing. Monomi yelled at Monokuma and ordered him to save the boy. The bear acquiesced, and a siren's wail blasted, soon followed by an ambulance. Monokuma grabbed Kuzuryu, and supposedly spirited him to a hospital. And just like that, the students were left alone.

They tried to gather shards of faith and strength and the courage to keep moving forward, hoping that Kuzuryu will make it back to them safely. From the bottom of their hearts, all of them but Saionji wished for his safe return.

_I don't want anyone else to be a sacrifice...!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh man, chapter 2 is the best! So originally I wasn't going to have them smack into each other like that, but really, when I play that scene, that's exactly the first thought that comes to mind. I mean, Nagito is just right there! Like woah! I totally just ran into you, dude. Of course, there's a great line that he says afterwards in the game that would probably not be said if Hajime accidentally kissed him, but I'll try it include it in a later chapter.... ;D


	4. Trapped by the Ocean Scent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 of danganronpa 2: goodbye despair. Nagito's second and third free time events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NANAMI IS THE BEST K3  
> Sigh, but this is my least favorite trial of the game. I mean, it was just so obvious when I initially played it, but that's probably because of my obsession with murder mysteries and knowing how a hanged body should look like. Anyway, Hajime's competence here fits with story reasons, too, so...yeah, it's a short trial....sorta? Well, it's shorter than the first trial, I think...
> 
> Though in terms of reactions/character development, the trial is great K3
> 
> Also this chapter took so long to write and edit. The next chapter will probably be the same, so expect a slower update. (Probably a much slower update...^^;;) Anyway, have fun with the Despair Disease.

Hajime left in silence with the remaining students. In his cabin, he paced back and forth, unable to sleep, consumed with worry over Kuzuryu's fate. He took in a deep breath, tasting the sea air, and exhaled. _There's no way I'll be getting any sleep like this...Maybe a walk will help..._

He opened his cabin door, noticing that the lights were off in everyone's rooms. But the moonlight provided ample enough visibility to make his way to the main road. _Huh, it's been about a week since we've been on this island, but the moon looks exactly the same...which means it should be changing soon..._

He didn't want to go back to second island, not yet. The airport, supermarket, and ranch weren't distracting enough, so that left Jabberwock Park and the beach.

_I could go to the park, but I doubt staring at that timer will lessen my worry..._

Hajime strolled towards the beach by the bridge, focusing on nothing but his breathing and his footsteps. On the sand, a few feet from the tide, he sat, his head resting on his knees, hands holding him together, as he let the waves' whispers scrape him raw.

His stiff and tightened body slowly relaxed as an hour passed by. It wasn't as cold as he thought it would be, but the occasional cool breeze awakened goosebumps all over him, before calming down and putting them back to sleep. His eyes stayed awake, as his legs fell asleep, but he didn't care to move them. Only his lungs swelled and shrunk, matching the lulls and rushes of the waves.

He heard nothing but the island's nighttime noises, until the faint patter of feet brought him out of his blank daydreams. It was different, like a slow tapping beat on wood. _Must be on the bridge._ Hajime couldn't care less who it was, only that they left him and his solitude alone. He didn't move an inch, hoping that they would just pass him by.

The steps stopped, tempting Hajime to see if they were still there, to see if they noticed him, but he resisted, barely breathing, making no sounds, and after a few minutes, they started again, sauntering down the bridge. He waited to hear them hit the main road and turn right, towards the cottages and away from him, but instead he heard the soft rasp of sand shifting, drawing closer and closer. Hajime slowly, silently dispelled all of the air in his lungs.

He was about to let out a violent diatribe on leaving him the fuck alone, when the other being dropped next to him, and on seeing a familiar yet darkened color scheme from the corner of his eye, Hajime inadvertently relaxed. A wry almost-smile grazed his lips. "Don't tell me they locked us both out?"

Komaeda mirrored Hajime's pose. "I haven't checked."

They lapsed into stillness, broken only by the swells of the tides. It was nice, a lot more calming than Hajime expected. It was easy to forget about the other student, but he didn't want to, instead trying to discover all that he could from the corners of his sight, the edges of his hearing. He copied Komaeda's breathing, mapped out every whirling curl of his hair playing with the wind, memorizing the shape of his face from the side.

When their shadows elongated enough to touch the water, another brisk sea gale swept from the black tide, biting their skin with frost-breath. Komaeda sneezed as Hajime shivered. He reached out and touched the green-grey student on his shoulder.

"Want to go back?"

Komaeda shrugged off Hajime's hand, inched a bit further away from him, and said, "No."

"Oh, okay."

From Hajime's count, they had another hour at least before the next frigid gust returned, and he was prepared to spend it in relative silence. But after some crashes of the waves upon the shore, Komaeda began to speak.

"You shouldn't accept me so easily, Hinata."

"...What!?"

Komaeda's nails dug white into his arms. "I'm such a lowly, disgusting insect. It's not right for someone of your worth to interact with me so much."

Hajime turned towards the other boy and said, "Do you want me to stop?"

Komaeda buried his face in his arms and knees. _"Yes."_

"Then please, Komaeda, look me in the eye and tell me...tell me you want me to _stop being with you_ and I..." He bit the inside of his lip. "I'll leave you alone."

Komaeda twisted his head in his arms, before sliding a corner of his face towards Hajime, one eye peeking out. "I need--"

"No, that doesn't count. Let me see your full face."

"...Why?"

The corner of Hajime's mouth twitched. "So I can tell if you're lying, of course."

Komaeda unraveled himself, bending fully towards Hajime, staring directly into his eyes. "I...I..." He dropped his gaze, frowning. "I'm lying. But it doesn't mean it's not true." He winced. "I mean, it...it makes me happy, talking with you. But you shouldn't be around me either."

Hajime released one woven arm, and reached down, covering Komaeda's hand with his own. His thumb spun circles onto his fingers. "That's probably right, but...I don't think you're disgusting or lesser than me in any way."

Komaeda just stared at the joined hands, almost mesmerized, and said, "I don't deserve your attention."

"Well, you're getting it anyway."

"...Why? Why spend so much of your time with someone like me?"

Hajime glanced back at the sea, considering. "Because..."

_I want to get to know you._

Komaeda snapped his stare to the sides of Hajime's eyes, searching for answers as Hajime continued, "...I'd rather have you with us, working together, than as an obstacle for us to defeat."

"But I'm...I'm not---"

"I think you are. I think you're brilliant enough to be a coveted ally, if you'd let yourself be. At least, more than you already are."

Komaeda kept silent as the ocean sang on, before quietly replying, "Your hope won't become strong enough without..."

Hajime softly retorted, "That's where we'll just have to disagree, then."

A haze of solitude draped around the students, the nighttime noises subdued as if calling out from a distance.

Hajime replayed snippets of all his conversations with Komaeda in his mind, noting the lies and half-truths and manipulations, and not caring about them as much as he should.

_He's not malicious...in his mind, it's all for his hope, for his strongest hope that he's willing to sacrifice everything for, even me..._

"Komaeda, if..." Hajime continued to stare at the crests of the ocean, and swallowed. "If something happens, and someone decides to...to get your help in...killing me. Can you promise me that you'll be there?" He looked into Komaeda's startled eyes. "I...I'd rather not die alone, you know?"

Komaeda's hand underneath Hajime's tightened into a fist, then relaxed. "You won't ask me to stop it?"

"I don't want to hear you lie again."

"...Then what about your hope to escape this island?"

Hajime grimaced into a smile. "Of course we're getting off this island, all of us." He pressed his hand further into Komaeda's. "But I won't run away from the fact that...that we truly don't know anything about ourselves or our missing years. Who's to say that the next motive won't dredge up something horrid from my past, something that gives someone enough reason to try..." His other hand dug into his knee. "I mean, what if my talent is something awful? Or..." Hajime inhaled sharply, closing his eyes. "What if I really am the traitor, but I just don't remember it?"

"No, I know you have a hopeful talent, Hinata."

_Why is it always so easy to believe in him, even when I know he's probably lying?_

Komaeda slightly tilted his head closer to Hajime. "And as for the traitor...if you don't remember being one, then it doesn't matter now, does it? And if you regain your memories, and find out that you are...then you can help us escape instead, right?"

"Huh, it sounds so simple when you say it."

The other student half-smiled. "Which means, no one will have any reason to kill you."

Hajime snorted. "Now I will just die from failing a class trial." His mouth curved into a softer pose. "But...thanks, Komaeda."

He nodded, then glanced down at his hand still wrapped beneath Hajime's, and whispered, "I'll be there. If...if it happens, I'll be there. I promise you."

Hajime quietly replied, "Good, it'll give me something to look forward to."

_Something to believe in, even if it was another lie..._

"And you know I'll do my best to convince them to sacrifice me, instead."

Hajime exhaled. "Honestly, I'd prefer the other outcome. At least then there's a chance I'll survive and no killings will happen." 

At that, Komaeda scrunched up his knees again, resting his head upon his other arm there, keeping the one attached to Hajime's immobile, going back to staring at the waves, not bothering to voice his obvious disagreement.

After awhile, Hajime joined him in letting the undulations of the ocean drive away all thoughts, tightening his grasp on the other boy's hand whenever a frozen gust hit them, sharing solitude until the early morning rays glowed low on the horizon.

"Ah, Komaeda..." Hajime yawned, releasing both arms and stretching upwards. "I think I'm gonna head back and catch a few hours of sleep before breakfast." He stood up, wincing at the strain of moving sleeping muscles. "Will you come with me or stay here?"

"I think I'll stay here a little longer..."

"Then, I'll see you at the restaurant." Hajime pressed down on Komaeda's shoulder for a long moment before going back to his cottage. When he entered his room, he plopped himself on his bed and dozed off.

* * *

He woke up to Monokuma's morning announcement, forcing himself to roll out of bed and walk out of his cabin. _I need to see everyone, so we can question the bear together about Kuzuryu..._

On his way to the restaurant, he ran into Sonia and Nanami, both worrying about Kuzuryu's fate. Sonia went back to her cabin, and Nanami stayed in the lobby, distracting herself with arcade games. With a solemn heart, Hajime stepped upstairs to the restaurant, thinking that he'd be the first one there, but instead he completely surprised Saionji and...

"Wh-What the heck is this!?"

On the far back wall lay a panel filled with animal skulls and bone-candles and funeral flowers surrounding some of Koizumi's photos.

_What a terrifying ambiance..._

Saionji cheerfully exclaimed, "Woooow, what's this!? What an adoorable decoration! Um, I don't know who did it but they must've spent so much time and effort doing their best to make it."

_Wait, really? Did she really make...?_

"Kyahahaha! Mahiru's gonna be happy, too! I don't know who did this but we should be grateful to them! Riiight?"

"Hey, Saionji, did you--"

Tsumiki walked in and immediately screamed in everlasting horror. Nidai and Owari and Soda also entered and stood petrified at the supposedly cursed and insulting display, deploring whoever created it, secretly shunning Saionji who slumped down, remaining silent.

"Ah, everyone...I understand how you guys feel, but it's probably--"

Sonia strode in, looking a bit more refreshed, along with Mioda, and upon glancing at the altar, they both condemned its maker to a fate worse than death.

"No, guys, seriously, it's just--"

Saionji gripped the corners of her dress and retorted, "Hey, I know right? Seriously, it's just the worst. Jeez, I wonder who the hell did it."

Hajime sighed.

She smiled. "You're right...There's no way...Mahiru will be happy...with this..."

The other students agreed to take it down and burn it, but Nanami walked in, saying, "Hold it. You can't. Someone took their time to make this memorial so we can mourn for Koizumi. You can't burn it..."

And just like that, the other students realized that the altar was done in respect and love for Koizumi. Saionji admitted to making it with tears in her eyes, causing some of the others to cry too, apologizing for their misunderstanding. Nanami strolled to Hajime and began to smile over the incident.

She tilted her head, saying, "Little by little we're trying to understand and find the good in each other. That's the reason we can move forward...without feeling despair toward our situation...you guys are all splendid like that."

"Splendid, huh..."

"Hmph, I have arrived. Apologies for the wai---" Tanaka opened his eyes in fright, and flinched back. "What the...!? What is this object that is releasing such a foul aura!? Impossible! A malice clings to Koizumi even after her death...We'll be sucked in if we look directly at it!" He shielded his eyes with his scarf.

A silly smile crept across Hajime's face at Tanaka's predictable reaction.

"...Wow, this is a very hopeless object." Komaeda dragged strands of hair away from his forehead. "It doesn't belong in a hopeful place like this at all...it's absolutely brimming with malice..."

Hajime started outright laughing, struggling to keep it quiet, to Nanami's chagrin.

_Man, they're both really funny._

Komaeda pointed directly at the altar. "Let's just hurry up and destroy it. I can't stand to look at it for even one more second."

Going to the altar, Tanaka asserted, "I'll destroy you! Stand aside," His scarves fluttered dramatically. "I shall shatter this barbaric, blasphemous false idol to pieces!"

Saionji started crying again as Nanami and Sonia tried to alleviate the situation. Hajime, leaving it to them, gathered a tangerine, two hard-boiled eggs, and some waffles layered in maple syrup. He sat down at a table near the open porch, and poured a glass of milk, eating breakfast as Tanaka attempted to see the altar in a more positive light.

Komaeda joined him with a bowl of cereal, and Hajime began peeling the tangerine, popping a slice in his mouth--except it was swiped by the other student and devoured.

"I thought you didn't like citrus?"

Komaeda twitched his lips. "I like them now."

_Difficult. Utterly completely difficult._

He allowed Komaeda to steal the rest of the tangerine, and the boys let the splattering conversations of the other students wash over them as they ate. Hajime transfixed his gaze on Komaeda peeling one tangerine slice open, pushing back the layer of fiber.

"What are you doing to it?"

"I like to eat them like this." He displayed the shards of juice hidden inside its skin. "See?...Don't you think these pods remind you of little jewels?"

Hajime stared at the orange reflections in Komaeda's eyes. "You know, I'm beginning to think you like pretty things."

The other student popped the slice in his mouth and shrugged. "I guess."

_Heh, so I was right._

When everyone else was mostly done with their food, they began to discuss Kuzuryu's fate, and Monomi soon appeared, announcing the destruction of another Monobeast, allowing them to search a new island.

 _The next island...maybe now we'll find it, a way to escape and go back home._ He glanced at Komaeda. _That should be our one and only hope..._

They questioned her on Kuzuryu, but she knew nothing, of course. When asked about her traitorous organization, she fled.

Mioda glared at her retreating back. "She ran away again! She's always like this when things get inconvenient for her!"

Komaeda replied, "Oh well, who cares about Monomi? More importantly, she mentioned a new island..." He looked to Hajime. "What should we do?"

Sighing, Sonia said, "I do not think we should be exploring when Kuzuryu is in danger..."

"But we must move forward, no matter what despair stands in our way! That's what hope should be."

Hajime retorted, "Really? You're really going to help us explore this island without planning for your own murder?"

Komaeda glanced away, saying nothing as the other students spoke up in favor of exploring.

_Yeah...I thought not._

But as Sonia finally assented to go to the new island, Komaeda turned back to Hajime and said, "Okay. I'll truly search for new clues with you."

_...Really? Or is this another lie...?_

"'With me'? How daring, Komaeda."

"Ah, no, of course I meant--"

 _"Heh._ Well, I'd like that."

"Oh..."

Komaeda joined the rest of the conversation, seeming a twinge more happier than before, and ended the discussion by saying, "Anyway, let's begin! Let's open the way to a hope-filled future with our very own hands!"

* * *

Hajime strolled with the remaining students to third island, walking beside Nanami and Komaeda. On the bridge, he spied what seemed to be a scene straight out of an old western film.

_The ambiance is completely different compared to the previous islands...The residences are all in shambles, it barely feels like a resort. And no sign of any people, either. Looks a bit dangerous..._

The students separated, Hajime following Komaeda left to the movie theater. On seeing the billboards, Hajime said, "Yep, there's totally a pseudo-western feel to this island...Are those posters terrible parodies of the Wizard of Oz and...hm, I don't recognize the other."

"It might be referencing the video game, Wild Gunman...though it's weird that he only has a water gun..."

"Whatever, let's check inside."

Hajime narrowly missed tripping on a tumbleweed as they both entered the cinema. Inside, Monokuma greeted them with his newest creation, the movie, Wizard of Monomi.

Hajime had enough of the bear's shoddy productions. "If I don't watch it...what're you gonna do about it?"

The bear angered, retorting, "There's no way I'd allow such reckless behavior, but...I'll forgive you if you purchase a Monokuma Sticker at the goods counter over there."

The boys glanced at each other, then went to check it out. On the counter was a hemp tote bag with a Monomi decal, and beside it was a sticker.

Komaeda asked, "Is this piece of junk the sticker you were talking about?"

The sticker was a picture of Monokuma with the words, _'I'm sorry, I was born stupid.'_

Hajime snorted. "Wow this is really half-assed."

Monokuma roared, "Yeah? Well it can be yours for the special price of 1.5 million dollars!"

The boys both exclaimed, "...What?!"

Hajime followed with, "There's no way we have that kind of money!"

"Puhu! Then you can pay me back when you get off this island. If you don't like it, you could always just watch my..."

Hajime looked at Komaeda and knew that the other student would probably watch whatever it was anyway, so he sighed and said, "Fine, I'll pay it."

Komaeda, incredulous, retorted, "What, Hinata?...Seriously?"

"That movie's probably just a huge waste of time." He glanced back at the bear. "As long as I can pay it after I get out of here...I'll pay anything! Even 1.5 million dollars!"

Monokuma broke into a full-body flush as he gave the sticker to Hajime, then became sad as he realized that it meant that he really didn't want to watch his movie.

"Wow..." Komaeda peered down at the sticker. "That's a lot more cheap-looking than I thought. I can't believe you paid so much for that crap."

"Yeah, yeah rub it in more..." He smirked. "You'll be the one regretting it when you have to watch his movie."

Monokuma laughed again before announcing that the next showing was starting now, staring at Komaeda to pressure him into going in.

Hajime sing-songed, "I'll wait for you to finish, so go enjoy yourself!"

Komaeda entered the theater room, murmuring, "I can already feel the regret building up..."

Monokuma left to prepare the film, and Hajime wandered around the lobby, tasting the stale popcorn, finding some hidden Monokuma coins, and examining the actually interesting video game poster. After about five minutes, the theater doors opened again, and Komaeda came out sighing.

Completely smug, Hajime asked, "So how was it?"

Monokuma popped up beside him saying, "Ah! Komaeda, please answer my questionnaire!"

The curly haired student crushed his eyes with his palm. "Jeez, it doesn't matter if I answer it...That movie was so boring it was torture. Minutes felt like weeks while I was watching it..."

Hajime chuckled. "See? I told you so."

The other boy exhaled deeply. "Yeah that was so not the next motive...what a letdown. I should've done what you did and just settled it with money. I'd gladly pay 1.5 million right now to bleach it from my mind..."

"Wow, it must be worse than I thought."

"You have no idea..." Komaeda sighed again. "I'm so tired right now from boredom..."

"Then let's check out the next place; I doubt it will be worse than _that."_

"...Hinata, don't jinx us."

Hajime swallowed. "I take that back! Let's just go already."

They exited the cinema and walked down the main road to Electric Avenue. There were a bunch of street booths filled with electrical appliances, cluttering the narrow alleyway.

Hajime said, "Hey, you think there's any communicators hidden in here?"

Komaeda tilted his head a bit. "Well, I doubt there's anything long range that we could use to call for help, but we can search for something more short range."

"Yeah, I think if we can all be in contact with each other throughout the day, it'll help a lot."

They both headed to the cell phone corner, but found that all the phones were more or less paperweights without any reception at all. Hajime threw the cellphone he was holding back into its bin. "...Let's check somewhere else."

At the outside corner of the dilapidated and disappointing building lay a white microwave and refrigerator, both in good condition. Hajime couldn't help but remember how Hanamura would've mocked them for considering microwave food...

Komaeda ran his hand against the fridge. "Huh, this is in pretty good shape."

"Don't tell me you're actually considering taking it?"

"Well there aren't many cold drinks here, at least not without ice."

"That's way too much effort to bring back just because you don't like ice."

"True enough."

They searched through the parts corner next, along with Nanami who seemed to be fishing things out of a random pile. Hajime turned to her and said, "...Are you looking for something specific?"

"Yeah, I was wondering if there are any game consoles in here. Sometimes old hardware is treated like junk."

Komaeda added, "Yeah I remember finding an old, but working playstation in the trash once..."

_I...don't think that's the same thing..._

Nanami glanced into the pile. "At this rate, I'll settle for anything."

"Well, if you do find something, we can help you carry it back." Hajime saw that Komaeda also nodded in agreement.

She dug her hands in, saying, "Yeah...I'll let you know."

The parts corner mostly had home appliances and acoustic equipment, nothing useful that they were looking for, and barely any were functional.

Komaeda walked to the computer corner. "Maybe we'll find something here?"

Hajime scoffed. "What are the chances that we'd find a working laptop?"

Komaeda grabbed a random one from a haphazard pile of computer parts, saying, "That may not matter..." He turned it on, and it actually started booting.

"Huh, looks like some of them still have power." Hajime inched closer to Komaeda, looking at the screen from behind the other student's shoulder.

Komaeda fiddled with its connection settings. "Still, there doesn't seem to be any wifi networks in range."

"Wait, what're those strange icons on the desktop...the Usami X File?"

Komaeda clicked on it, and a text document opened. "It's some kind of report..."

"Th-This is...!"

They quickly scanned through the document detailing the events of the 'Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History.'

Hajime's face blanched as he read. "It...it started at Hope's Peak?!"

"No..." Komaeda clenched his fist over his heart. "Th-The school closed...!?"

The words became too garbled to read, and Monokuma soon appeared.

Hajime glared at the bear. "Did you create this file?"

"...No, I don't think so." Komaeda tapped the screen. "It said Usami X File, not Monokuma. Which means the likely author is..."

"Monomi?! That can't...No, this has to be something stupid that Monokuma just made up! I mean, what's Hope's Peak Reserve Department? I've never even heard of that before...!"

Monokuma joined in with, "Hu-wha? That's weird, of all people, you should definitely be the only one who knows about it..."

"Wh-What do you mean...?"

The bear posed nauseatingly. "Hahheh! I guess you forgot about it, so it can't be helped."

Komaeda interjected, "While we're on the subject of stupid things, that file said something about the students who survived. You don't mean us, do you?"

"Hey hey hey!" Soda ran up to them, pointing at the bear. "H-Hold on a sec, you guys! Just...what the heck have you guys been talking about!? It doesn't make any sense..."

The bear nonsensically responded before Hajime yelled, "Who cares about that? Just answer the question. Who are the students who survived?!"

Monokuma basked in the attention. "I wouldn't know an important story like that!" And then disappeared.

Komaeda sighed. "Damn, he ran away again..."

"We could trap him in the theater if you'd like...?"

The other student shuddered. "No, let's not go back there so soon. Anyway..." He looked at the screen again. "Do you think...this report is true?"

Soda exclaimed, "Th-There's no way! I refuse to believe that crap!"

"I wasn't talking to you."

Komaeda's downward glare scared the mechanic away, who murmured "W-Whatever, man..." Soda went back to searching through parts at the end of the ally. Hajime only slightly raised a brow at Komaeda.

"What? I don't have that much patience right now."

Hajime glanced back at the file. "...Anyway, it does match up to what Monokuma has been telling us so far. And I believe your theory on Monomi being the author, which also corroborates her involvement with the ones behind this incident, with World Ender, but..."

"You're doubting the last part?"

"Yeah. _'The students who survived...were forced to kill each other as a lesson in despair'..._ That does seem like it's talking about us, but we've only been on this island for about a week."

Komaeda touched his chin in thought. "Which means Monomi must've wrote it recently..."

"But isn't that weird? I mean, the Monobeasts were guarding this island until today. So unless she wrote it this morning..."

"Hmm..." Komaeda pulled up another laptop and turned it on. "Yep, as I thought, there's no Usami file on this one."

Hajime checked another, found that it had no power, then tried another, which also had no power, before Komaeda grabbed one and handed it to him, slightly smiling. Hajime turned it on, and it too had no file on it. "So...what does this mean? That she wrote the file this morning on one laptop, then told us to come here? Did she want us to find it or not?"

"I'm beginning to think it's the other way around."

"Huh?"

"You're forgetting it's named 'Usami.' I think it's more likely that she wrote it sometime before Monokuma...maybe even before we all woke up..."

"But why? And wait, then that means...?!"

"Yeah, that we're not the survivors mentioned here. Usami didn't know about any killings then..."

"Then what does that make us...?"

"I don't know. Other survivors, perhaps? Maybe there's not just one killing game, but many...with different survivors of Hope's Peak..."

"That's...that's just sickening..."

Komaeda glanced down, his body slowly shaking, a sinister expression infecting his smile.

_Oh, no..._

Hajime braced himself as Komaeda burst. "Ahahahahaaah! Do you know what this means? Can you imagine all the hope being created right now?" He hugged himself, digging into his arms, shivering. "Do you think security cameras are recording them, too? All of the survivors of Hope's Peak in their own battles against despair...Ah, I-I can't even imagine how beautiful it would be to watch so much hope being born!"

Hajime swallowed his instinctual outburst, and tried to calmly say, "W-We don't know if that's true..."

Komaeda's eyes returned to a subdued swirl. "Hmm, I guess that's right...It's probably just a cruel prank, I mean, Hope's Peak getting destroyed? There's no way that could happen." His face twitched a bit more normally at Hajime. "Let's continue searching for clues, Hinata."

Hajime sighed and went to the television corner, but sure enough, none of them had any signal. _I guess that just leaves the last area..._

The boys walked over to where Soda was digging through more random junk.

"What is all this stuff?"

Komaeda swiped a small black box from a pile of parts. "It seems like...some sort of wiretap?"

"W-What?!"

"And over here..." He pulled out a seemingly innocuous teddy bear, and pointed to its left eye. "This looks like a hidden video camera..."

Soda replied, "Yeah, all this stuff here is used for surveillance, like recording secret videos. There's some ancient-looking cameras, too."

Hajime took a step back away from the voyeuristic displays. "Machines used for stalking!?"

Soda turned to face them completely, retorting, "Ah, Heeyy! Don't get it twisted. I just have mechanical knowledge of these things! I've never actually used them before, all right?"

Komaeda smiled insincerely at the mechanic. "Oh? For you to deny it so strongly...that's pretty suggestive, isn't it, Hinata?"

_Don't go dragging me into this..._

Soda pointed at Komaeda. "Wrong! Totally wrong! A-And more importantly, Monokuma's the one whose been watching all of us constantly." He rested one hand on his hip and leaned forward a bit. "Like, I'm kinda jealous because...what does he see when he's watching Miss Sonia...?"

_I have a bad feeling that he's the type of person who'll eventually use this equipment..._

Komaeda replied, "Don't worry, Soda. If anyone else were to try something like that..." He smiled wide, cutting into his cheeks, spreading his arms out. "We'll completely obliterate them from existence!"

_You know, that threat would be less scary coming from anyone else..._

Soda pulled his beanie down, muttering, "Ah, yeah..." before returning to searching through the piles of scraps.

Finding nothing else useful, Hajime and Komaeda checked on Nanami, who was still searching for any gaming devices, and then left for the next area. At the Motel, they met Saionji, examined an old, rusted truck, before leaving to the music venue.

A tumbleweed bumped against Hajime's leg as he uttered, "Titty...Typhoon?! What the heck is this?"

"Hinata, let's not get too close to those garbage fires..."

"Right...Let's just get this over with."

The boys entered the stage hall, and were greeted with Mioda's excited chanting and Sonia's calming presence. After talking with both students, they then decided to examine the venue's storage closet.

"Huh," Hajime touched one of the wallpapers. "There's a lot of different equipment in here...is that a banjo?!"

"Seems like it."

Hajime followed Komaeda along the back wall, checking out the various guitar-like instruments hung up there. The curly haired student stepped back, to examine the step ladders leaning against the left wall, when Hajime exclaimed, "Oh, look. A full-length mirror...this might be big enough to show both of us together."

He nudged Komaeda's arm so that they stood side by side, pressed against each other as Hajime tried to fit them both in the mirror's frame while still being near it.

"Hm, I guess this is about as good as we'll get." A third of both bodies were chopped off. Hajime faced the other student and said, "Well, I guess the girls will like this more. Sonia and Saionji especially...I think I overheard them complaining about the lack of long mirrors in the cottages."

Komaeda remained silent, staring at Hajime.

_Oh, he's pretty close like this..._

"Komaeda...?"

He blinked. "Ah, yeah...should we tell them now or have them discover it?"

"Let's leave it to them. C'mon, I think we only have one more place left to search."

They left the music venue, strolling along the main road to the next area. _...He doesn't usually blank out like that, only when something important's on his mind. I wonder what it is...?_

They neared the next red and white building when Komaeda uttered, "Ugh, a hospital..."

_Oh!_

"You think this is where he took Kuzuryu?"

Komaeda sighed. "Well, let's go and see..."

_I guess he doesn't like hospitals that much..._

The students entered Jabberwock Hospital's lobby, and Hajime murmured, "The ambiance in here feels like something out of a horror film, I definitely don't want to be a patient here..." He spied Komaeda visibly paling. "Ah...! I-I meant, uh..."

Komaeda swallowed, sweating a bit. "Whatever, let's just quickly search---"

"Hinata! Komaeda!"

"GAH!!"

"Holy shit!"

Tsumiki blushed. "Ah, I'm sorry I scared you both...but don't worry! Even if you get a heart attack from getting too scared, this is a hospital after all."

Komaeda pulled the collar of his t-shirt away from his neck, saying, "Hinata, I'm just going to wait for you outside..." He began leaving the hospital. "Let me know if you find anything..."

_Man, he must really not like hospitals or something..._

"Oh...did I scare him off?" Tsumiki's eyes teared up. "W-Why am I such a f-failure...?"

"No, Tsumiki it's not your fault...he just dislikes hospitals. Especially this one."

She glanced down. "Y-Yeah, this hospital is a little strange...there's no doctors, nurses, or patients anywhere..."

"So it's deserted like everywhere else."

"But all the medical supplies are still here!" She fidgeted with her hands, adding, "Though I'm not sure they'll be useful unless we check them...Ahhwahhha! That means I need to go check them, right?" Tsumiki ran through the doors to the patient rooms, muttering, "U-Understood...! I'll go ahead and do that in a flash so please don't hate me!"

_I guess that means it's okay to leave this place to her, huh? I should go check on Komaeda..._

He ran into Tanaka on his way out, grumbling something about 'the mark of defeating the devil.' Outside, Komaeda stood by a tall cactus, looking at the sky.

"Komaeda," Hajime touched his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just don't like hospitals that much..."

"Want to tell me about it?"

"Well---"

Just then, Sonia burst through the hospital doors saying, "Komaeda, Hinata! Over here, please hold on!"

Hajime glanced at her and said, "...Did something happen?"

"Just now, I was in the patient rooms with Tsumiki, and she made a very serious discovery!"

Komaeda glanced to him, looking suspicious.

_Yeah...I also don't know how she got inside so fast._

Sonia started fangirling over ancient Japanese medical dramas, before racing inside, telling them to meet her in the room at the back of the first floor.

Hajime turned to Komaeda. "You think you're up for going inside again?"

Komaeda glanced downwards at his hand. "No...I know my place, I'm not reckless enough to go along with you..." He looked up at Hajime. "Since it's going to be a touching scene, a worthless thing like me would just be a nuisance, right?"

_Touching scene...? Oh! He must mean they found Kuzuryu in there...Then, Komaeda's presence might antagonize him further, but..._

"No, you're not worthless, and I'm sure Kuzuryu wouldn't mind you seeing him. Well, as long as you don't try to provoke him excessively..."

Komaeda smiled softly, shaking his head slightly. "Hinata...I'm jealous of you."

"J-Jealous? Of me?"

"You don't know what your talent is, but you're showing no distress and you're even opening up to everyone...That must mean you have a lot of confidence in yourself, right?"

"...Are you teasing me again? I mean, me? Confident? That's like the last thing I feel right now."

"N-No, I was being serious..." Komaeda postured defensively before turning a questioning gaze at Hajime. "But still, I do wonder what sort of talent you really possess. Since it's taking this long for you to remember, I'm sure it must be an appropriately magnificent talent..."

"Wh-Who knows? I doubt it has a sense of dramatic timing."

"Heh. You're right..." Komaeda exhaled. "Ah, I'm sorry for delaying you for such a foolish conversation...Please go on ahead. Take Care."

_Does he really not wish to go...?_

"Well, okay. I'll see you later, then."

Hajime stepped inside the hospital, going to the last patient room, deliberately avoiding looking at whatever props Monokuma put up. The other students were all crowded together in the small room, surrounding a heavily bandaged Kuzuryu. After making sure he was okay, the students left Kuzuryu to rest with Tsumiki watching over him.

Hajime, upon exiting the hospital, found no sign of Komaeda.

_He must've went back already, I'll try to catch him tomorrow..._

On the way back to first island, Hajime spotted the weird plastic palm tree from the bridge. _Oh...I could try and get something that might cheer Komaeda up._

He paced to the beach, putting in all the coins he collected so far into the machine.

_Ah...! He might like this!_

With the sun setting, Hajime returned to his cottage, relieved at finding the yakuza to be alive, despite the day's ever-growing mysteries. He immediately prepared for bed, and fell into a deep, deep sleep.

* * *

Hajime awoke the next morning with his head feeling a lot clearer from getting enough sleep. He made his way to the restaurant, speaking with Tsumiki, Tanaka, and Nidai outside, and Soda and Nanami in the lobby. On the second floor, Hajime talked about yesterday's findings with the rest of the students. Komaeda mentioned the file found in Electric Avenue, but he disregarded it as a prank. The students then dispersed to either check out the file or find more clues. Hajime stayed in the restaurant, finishing breakfast, before looking at his map to see where Komaeda went.

_The library, huh? I didn't take him for the studious type..._

He made his way down the stairs to the lobby, and almost crashed into Nanami on the bottom step.

"Oh, woah! Sorry Nanami, I didn't see you there..."

_Actually, it's more like you suddenly appeared out of nowhere..._

"Hinata." Nanami puffed her cheeks, staring at him, preventing him from leaving. "You owe me an explanation."

_Oh god, she can't be talking about the other day...?_

"Uh, can this wait? I'm a bit busy, right now..."

"Hmph, fine." She pointed at him. "You'll meet me in my cabin after the curfew announcement. If you're not there, I'll be seriously angry with you!"

Hajime gulped. "Noted, I'll be there tonight." Nanami moved to the side, and he took that chance to start running out of the lobby.

As he left, she called out, "Hope you have fun with Komaeda!"

_Gah! Seriously, am I that obvious?!_

He left to second island, following the quickest route to the library. From the last time he explored the building, Hajime remembered its squeaking old wooden doors. Determined not to make a racket this time, he carefully creaked one door open and peered inside. Komaeda paced leisurely along the shelves on the first floor, looking for something to read. Hajme quirked his lips, and entered, and on the green-grey student's alerted gaze, he said, "Hey, Komaeda. I was looking for you."

"For my insignificant, little old self? I'm so thankful for your attention, Hinata, but what could you possibly want with someone as worthless as me?"

"Well first, I think you're very worthwhile, and second...well, um..." Hajime stepped closer to Komaeda, looking towards the tables. He repeatedly opened and closed his fists, before realizing it and stopped it, then exhaled. "Look, you were pretty down yesterday, so I thought..." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring. "I got this from the weird tree thing, and you said you liked stuff relating to hope, so...I thought you might like this? Here."

Hajime plopped the ring into Komaeda's upturned palm, saying, "Um...yeah."

The other student stared at the ring, twirling it in his fingers, before quietly replying, "A ring from Hope's Peak Academy...do you know what it means?"

"Uh, it's for friendship, right? I mean, you're the first friend I made since..." Hajime swallowed. "Well, actually you _are_ my first friend ever, so...Uh, do you like it? Cause if not--"

"No! No, I..." Komaeda closed his hand over the ring and stared into Hajime's eyes. "You...truly think we're friends...?"

"Yeah, aren't we?"

He clutched the ring hard. "No, I can't be, that's too much for scum like me to...I can only aspire to be your stepping stone, that's all I'm good for."

"It doesn't have to be difficult, you know. Here," Hajime stretched his arm out, waiting.

Komaeda stared at it, his fist shaking slightly. His other arm slowly extended, sliding against Hajime's fingers, gripping his hand.

Hajime smiled. "There, now we're friends." He paused, and when the other boy finally looked at him, he released Komaeda's hand, and said, "You know, we were interrupted yesterday. I didn't get to hear why you dislike hospitals so much."

"Oh..." Komaeda carefully placed the ring in his coat pocket and turned towards the shelves. "To be honest, I was hoping to distract myself from that by coming here..."

"T-Then, would you mind it if I just join you? There must be some books in here that even I can read." Hajime glanced around the rows upon rows of bookshelves lining every wall in the three-story library.

Komaeda lightly dragged the nail of his finger down the spine of a deep red book. "Yeah, I'd be really grateful if you want to spend time with my useless self."

"Of course I do. Anyway, I'm going to go check the second floor, I think most of the ones down here are in foreign languages."

Komaeda nodded, then returned to staring blankly at the shelves, while Hajime stepped upstairs and spent a good fifteen minutes scouring the isles for anything he could comprehend. Once he found a textbook, he returned downstairs, sitting beside the curly haired student at the table closest to the windows in the back. He opened it and joined Komaeda in reading in silence, marked only by the sound of pages turning.

But of course he couldn't hold back his curiosity, and saw that Komaeda's pile of books were actually in other languages. "Is that Japanese...?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. You didn't learn it in school?"

"Not enough to be remotely competent in reading it. That's pretty impressive."

Komaeda sighed, slumping down a bit. "It's just the result of private tutors, not hard work or anything like that."

_I'm pretty sure that means it's because of your hard work._

The other student added, "Anyway, what did you choose, Hinata?" He inched closer, peering down at the open textbook. "Is that...algebra?!"

"W-Well, I couldn't find anything in English, and I mean, this is pretty easy to understand since the symbols are mostly universal, so..."

Komaeda laughed. "Jeez, I can't believe you came all the way here just to _study._ I could never imagine doing that!"

"Look, after all this madness, we'll still be going back to school, so there's nothing wrong in preparing for that."

Komaeda paused for a moment, then said, "I was right, you really are confident, aren't you?"

Hajime bit his lip, letting the squiggly mathematical symbols glaze over his eyes. "I wouldn't say that...I doubt myself all the time. I just," He glanced back at Komaeda. "I can't stop believing in us. We will escape together, all of us. It's the only thing we can do..."

He waited for the other student to respond, noting the minute movements of Komaeda's pupils.

"Hinata, that hope of yours is truly beautiful to watch."

Hajime flushed. _D-Damn, it's hard to stay calm when he openly praises me like that..._

Komaeda continued, "But some sacrifices are necessary in order to completely defeat Monokuma."

"No, I don't believe that. I'll never believe that."

Despondent, the other student replied, "Well...that's a problem. I don't want you to lose sight of yourself because you doubt me, I just want you to fully embody hope."

_There it is again...what is this hope you keep talking about?_

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, what do you think hope is?"

"From the way you always talk about it...for you, it must be an absolute good."

Komaeda beamed. "That's right! That's exactly it! And you, all of you, have the potential to embody it. Do you understand?" His eyes began curling into themselves, his hands brandishing outwards. "Hope is a positive force, everything created by it is an absolute good. As long as the seeds of hope have been planted, I will gladly kill someone---"

Hajime scoffed.

"...Hinata, you can't still believe that I wouldn't do it."

"No, I know we all have the capacity for violence, but you...even if you carried out another nefarious scheme, I know you would ultimately leave a chance for your victim to escape." Hajime inched closer to Komaeda. "You can't help but give them hope."

Komaeda swallowed and looked at the shelves, his eyes less swirly, and paused for more than a minute, and then replied, "I-I don't understand...When I get excited like this, I know I end up saying the wrong things but I can't help it. But I never say anything that doesn't come from my heart." He turned to Hajime. "Everything I say is how I truly feel, but you don't shy away from it like everyone else... _Heh,_ I mean, these self-righteous thoughts have distanced _everyone_ from me, except you."

Hajime's eyes widened; he chewed on the inside of his cheek and replied, "I told you before, I---"

"I'd rather not hear you lie, Hinata. I know it would be more convenient for you to ignore me."

Hajime glanced down, eyes closed, breathing in, before looking up again at Komaeda, and exhaling. "You're right, it isn't easy all the time. I mean, you can get pretty intense, you know? But that doesn't mean it's not worth it. I...I just want to understand you better. I want to know why you think the way you do."

Clutching himself, Komaeda shivered. "Ah, I'm so blessed to hear you say that you're interested in trash like me, _Hinata._ But I have to warn you...if you're doing this out of a misguided attempt to _change_ how I think, it won't work."

"No, that's not why. At least, not entirely...I mean, of course I'd rather you value yourself more, that you believe you're necessary to all of us, to me. But I just, I want to understand why you think you need to create more despair for the sake of hope. Why you can't just believe in the strength we already possess."

Brandishing his hands again, Komaeda exclaimed, "That's obvious, it's all for absolute hope, the most powerful hope that can overcome any and all forms of despair!"

Hajime scrunched his hand under his chin in thought. "So...you think you have to create more trials for us, more vicious challenges, in order to test our hope? To see if it is this 'absolute hope'? And, you also don't believe we'll ever lose hope, that even if we die and the killer goes free, all it means is that they had this absolute hope. And despite all the deaths and senseless violence, if we do come out of a trial alive, we'll still believe in hope because...worthy people, those with talents, can never give into despair..."

Komaeda's eyes lit up. "Yes, exactly. I would gladly sacrifice myself to have you guys embody absolute hope."

"But how do you know that we don't already have it? I mean, the fact that we're alive right now--that you are alive, isn't that absolute hope? The greatest hope?"

Slowly smiling, the curly haired student replied, "It is hope, a strong one. But only by the ultimate clash of hopes can absolute hope be born."

"Like defeating Monokuma once and for all?"

"Yeah, that would do it."

"Then, that obviously requires all of us to be alive. I know we'll especially need you, so you can't sacrifice yourself before then. That way we can _all_ become hope."

_And you can't be a sacrifice after, either._

The other student turned back to his novel, quietly saying, "...Maybe."

Sighing, Hajime deflated. _Is that truly the best I can do to change his mind...?_

* * *

Soon after, Hajime stared out the window, noting the afternoon sun burning brightly. "I think I'm going to stop by the diner for some lunch. Do you want to come with me, or I can bring something back?"

"I don't need---" Komaeda looked up to Hajime's glare, and amended his statement. "Well, I guess you can bring something back?"

"Alright, see you in a bit." Hajime grazed Komaeda's shoulder on his way out of the library, relieved that he got a chance to be alone for a while. He walked out the squeaky doors, shielding his eyes from the sun's flare, and paced towards the diner.

_Is that...truly it? We'll just never see eye to eye, never agree?_

He arrived at the diner, and grabbed two plates of hamburgers and fries, along with some napkins, and two cans of blue ram that he shoved in his pockets. He leaned against the door with his shoulder, opening it while gripping both plates, and began carefully trotting back to the library.

_How do I make him understand how important he is?_

At the ancient ruin, Hajime stopped and concentrated on the falling water escaping from the rocks. He drew in a slow breath, and let it free just as slowly.

_Regardless, right now, I think we both need a break from exhausting conversations. Heh, I never thought I'd look forward to mindless studying this much._

* * *

Back at the library, the students ate in easy solitude. When they finished, Komaeda gathered the plates and left for the diner.

_I guess he really likes cleaning. That, or he's taking Monomi's no littering rule pretty seriously..._

Hajime went back to parsing through his algebra book, absorbed in figuring out the content of each section based on its example solutions. He completely missed the other student walking in, but when Komaeda returned to his spot, Hajime glanced at him and offered a little half-smile, before going back to his textbook. Komaeda did the same, and together they let the afternoon pass by with the fluttering of pages.

A little before sunset, Hajime stretched his arms upwards while yawning. He leaned backwards on his chair, staring at the chandelier and wondering if it automatically turned on at night.

_Hmm...so what I've gathered from this section is that the standard equation for a parabola with a directrix perpendicular to the y-axis is (x-h)^2 = 4p(y-k). Or more commonly represented as the quadratic formula, y=ax^2+bx^1+cx^0. So by restricting the domain and playing around with the coefficients, I can..._

Without moving, Hajime glanced at the tip of Komaeda's mouth.

_Hmm...no, it doesn't quite fit; his mouth curves differently. Maybe I should make it a biquadratic function and add in a dx^4 term so that the base is flatter..._

He sighed, leaning forward again, scanning the current page on his book, but not reading it. _Yep, I think I am definitely done studying for today._

But he didn't quite want to leave yet, so instead Hajime just completely gave up, resting his head in his arms against the textbook, staring at Komaeda. The other student's right hand grasped the base of his book, with his fingers spreading it open. His left hand, the one closest to Hajime, lay on the table, occasionally moving to the book when the other student flipped to the next page. Hajime noticed his eyes relentlessly moving across each vertical line, completely devouring page after page. He didn't want to interrupt Komaeda, so he turned his gaze towards the mostly inert hand tapping a silent beat against the table.

_His left hand...that's the one he usually drags his hair with, when he's a bit frustrated..._

Hajime followed the curves and crinkles of Komaeda's flesh, mapping out the folds upon folds of little lines forming finger and palm prints, the way they shattered into pinpricks of evening light, reflecting back the sun. He was mesmerized by how each minute movement altered the shape of the wrinkles, shifted the shadows, flattened or deepened the folds of skin. Hajime swallowed.

_The hand he holds over his heart, cupped into a fist, when he gets worried or scared._

He was just about to grasp the angle of each knuckle, the angles between each finger, when Komaeda said, "Hinata, you've been staring at me again." He glanced towards Hajime without turning his head and smiled. "Ah, are you thinking about doing something to me?"

_D-Doing something...?! What?!_

Hajime felt another flush color his face and it was utterly not fair. He demanded payback.

"Actually, yes. Give me your hand." He sat up straight, reaching towards Komaeda's hand, turning it over, and placed his palm against Komaeda's palm, moving it slightly downwards so that they rested evenly. He then pressed against Komaeda's fingers and stretched them both wide, comparing their size.

"Huh, yours is a bit taller...I wasn't expecting that."

Hajime glanced at Komaeda's face, completely smug when he spied a faint blush there. He grasped the other student's hand, dragging it closer, before releasing it and gliding his fingers to Komaeda's wrist, holding him there. Hajime pushed the nail of his thumb down Komaeda's life line as he heard the other breathe sharply.

"And your lines are very deep, not faint at all. That's also unexpected."

Komaeda snatched his hand back, retorting, "That's _boring."_

"I think seeing something that defies expectation is the definition of interesting."

The other student huffed. "I think you just like being contrary."

"Only as much as you do."

A pointed smile snaked over Komaeda's lips as he returned to his book, flipping the page, replying, "I don't like being contrary."

Hajime just tilted his head back and laughed.

* * *

Komaeda finished his current book a little bit later, and the boys left the library for dinner at the restaurant. They separated afterwards, Hajime going back to pace around his cabin as he anxiously waited for Monokuma's announcement. When the bear finally deigned to appear on the monitors, announcing the 10:00 pm curfew, Hajime slowly expanded his lungs with air, then sighed, trying to steel his nerves. He creaked his door open, looking for signs of anyone else out, finding none. He quietly stepped to Nanami's doorstep, ringing her bell once, still on the lookout for anyone noticing him, knowing that they would get the wrong idea-- _especially Soda._ And the fallout would be more than a hassle to deal with. He tapped his fingers against his thigh noiselessly, counting the seconds he spent waiting outside-- _way too many, what's taking her so long?! And why did I agree to meet her now of all times?!_

He heard a cabin door knob turn, opening, but Nanami's remained still. Hajime turned his head to look for the offending cabin, and as he did, the door in front of him finally briskly opened, showing the Ultimate Gamer.

"Oh, hey. Come inside, Hinata."

Hajime ran a hand through the back of his hair. "Ah, okay." And stepped inside. He thought he heard the sound of a _crash_ , but Nanami closed her cottage door, and with her window already shut, Hajime couldn't hear any nighttime noises.

He quickly glanced around the room, noting the game consoles scattered all over and wondered if she was able to find one in the junk piles. He noticed she had the same video game poster as the one in the cinema, and what seemed like Monokuma's arcade machine from the last motive... _Seriously, what's that doing over here...?!_

"So, what explanation exactly do I owe you?" He took a seat on her carpet, as she lounged in her pink floor-chair.

"Hinata...I need to know what your intentions are with Komaeda."

"Wh-What?! Wait a minute...What?!" He felt like she knocked his brain out. "What do you mean by that?!"

"Well..." She tilted her head at him. "You've been very preoccupied with him, ever since he got free...I think."

"Th-That's because he still needs to be monitored! We can't leave him alone, to wander freely and set up another potentially violent scene. That's just irresponsible!"

"So...you're claiming responsibility over him?"

"What?! No! That's not what I meant..." Hajime looked away from her, to the black swaying bushes outside her window.

"Then, what do you mean? Cuz, from what I've seen, you've gone a lot further than just monitoring Komaeda..."

"L-Like what?"

"Like..." She glanced down and pulled up a relaxed hand towards her chin. "Like when you immediately asked if he was okay when we first saw him released--"

"He was kidnapped! For three and a half days! Anyone would've done the same..."

She lifted an eyebrow at him. "Or afterwards, when you couldn't stop _staring_ at him while we walked to the airport--"

"I-I was checking for bruises! That's all it was!"

"Or what about how you almost always ignore everyone else, even me, whenever you're in the same room as him?"

"Wh-What?! That's not true!"

"...Yesterday morning?"

"I paid attention to Tanaka..." Hajime glanced down at his knees. "...I think."

"Not only that, but haven't you noticed the _way_ you talk to him? You don't talk to anyone else like that...probably."

_How I talk to him...?_

"It's like..." She looked at the corner of her ceiling, in thought. "Like you completely concentrate on all the things he says to you...and on all he doesn't. And you're also quick to praise him or contradict him whenever he puts himself down...and he's the only one you tease, and not in a mean way either...At least, I don't think it is..."

Hajime pressed his mouth into a flat line, hating having to examine his past actions this much.

Nanami stared directly at him, saying, "Also...you kissed him."

_...!_

"I WHAT?!"

"Y'know. When we left Koizumi's cottage..."

He hissed out, "Th-Th-That wasn't a _kiss!"_

_There wasn't anything remotely kiss-like about it! I just banged my teeth against his lower lip and tasted a bit of his blood and breath and skin and maybe accidentally grazed it open a bit more---but that doesn't mean it wasn't a kiss...Oh, Fuck._

"Hinata...you're getting really red remembering it aren't you?"

He squeaked out, "...Where are you going with this...?"

Nanami crossed her arms. "I just wanna know what you intend to do with him..." She pulled her hood over her head, and quietly continued, "I just don't like seeing you playing around with Komaeda like this if you have bad intentions...it's cruel."

"Y-You're worried...for him?!"

"Uh huh. That's why I wanna know why you keep spending so much time with him."

_...Why are they all asking me this?_

"Well, because..." Hajime sighed and dragged a hand across his face. He ragged out, "...Because I just want to be his friend, despite how he thinks of us."

Nanami tilted her head in confusion, and Hajime smirked self-deprecatingly and said, "I mean, he probably hates all of us, or at least doesn't care one iota about any of us, especially when we inevitably disappoint him...You said it yourself, he has very low levels of empathy."

"...I did. But, why? Why do you wanna be friends so badly with him?"

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"No, I don't think it is...but why try to befriend him if you think he doesn't like being around you?"

_Dammit, I really didn't want to think about this at all..._

"..." Hajime bit the inside corner of his lip. "I-I guess, because...I don't really care if he hates me, as long as he can tolerate me, that's fine, because..." He squeezed his eyes shut for a long second and opened them, and they became noticeably dimmer. "Because things are just so less boring when I'm with him."

"W-What...?!"

"Like everyone else can be just so _predictable_ at times, and it can be so frustrating to wait for them to act. It's like trying to fast-forward a video you've already seen except it just goes by so slowly..."

Nanami blankly stared at him while Hajime continued, "And, even when Komaeda's predictable, it's still... _stimulating_ to watch; I always feel something when he's around, whether it's surprise or confusion or anger or fear or...laughter..."

_Or captivation..._

"Ah, of course I feel the same with the others, too, like with you. It's just...to a lesser extent..." Hajime swallowed, unable to look at her directly, awaiting her response.

"...What do you mean by 'predictable'?"

Hajime quietly exhaled. "Like...very soon, Mioda's probably going to tell us she's planning a party in the music venue. And...based on Saionji's attitude with Kuzuryu, she's going to make him do something drastic as an apology to her. And Owari will probably challenge a Monobeast and be hurt by it, or Nidai will get hurt trying to protect her from it..." He swallowed and added, "And those are just the big things, the ones with more uncertainty. It's even more frustrating to completely predict the small conversations...so I usually just try to tune those out."

Nanami puffed out her cheeks. "Then, was this conversation so predictable to you?"

He slightly smiled, saying, "No, of course not. It isn't all conversations, just the standard ones, like when we all take so long to decide to do something, or sometimes when we interact at breakfast, or even some of the ones we have before our morning meetings..."

_Or when people say the most obvious things during a class trial..._

Nanami paused, lost in thought, then replied, "...Do you think that it's related to your talent?"

"Maybe...I just, I still don't feel like an Ultimate. And I wouldn't say it's a talent, I mean, it's also not like I know exactly what will happen or the exact words people will say...it's more like a vague feeling, like intuition supported with evidence...I mean, I think anyone could make these same guesses given the information I have, it's just that for some reason, I feel so bored experiencing them..." Hajime sighed again, and admitted in a small voice, "I also didn't always feel this way...I think it's been getting worse since I've been on this island..."

Nanami looked at Hajime with wide eyes. "Hinata...I'm glad you told me about this."

He winced. "Yeah, well...you forced me to look at my actions so closely...I really just wanted to avoid thinking about it for a lot longer..."

"Still," She reached out and touched his hand gently. "I know it wasn't easy to say...and if Komaeda helps you with your feelings of boredom, then I think your friendship with him is a definite good for both of you."

"You help too, you know? And Tanaka can be really fun to be around...And I don't care for you all any less because of it, either."

She smiled. "I know you don't. I still stand by what I said yesterday, you all are so splendid people."

"And you're splendid, too. Thank you, Nanami...you've given me a lot to think about..."

"I think we both need a good long rest." She yawned for half a minute. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Hajime stood up, walking to the door. "Yeah, goodnight."

He left her cottage, quietly closing the door behind him, and went back to his room, making sure no one saw him. On his bed, he immediately drifted off to sleep.

* * *

In the morning, Hajime woke up to Monokuma's announcement. He still felt pretty groggy, so he closed his eyes again, letting his body relax, taking deep, slow breaths---

"GOOD NOM-NOM-NOMMING!"

"Gywah!"

Mioda jumped onto his bed.

_Oof! What the--_

"Looks like today's gonna be another perfect, tropical daaay!"

_My eardrums..._

"Ehehehe! What a huuuge success! I received such a nice reaction!"

Hajime pinched the bridge of his nose and shuffled to sit up. "Mioda, how the hell did you get in here?"

"Aw, jeez, Hinata. You're so careless."

"What? I know I locked the door last night..."

_Wait, no don't tell me she..._

Mioda grinned, smug as a bug. "Hmph. And I destroyed that worthless lock!"

"...You realize I have a doorbell, right?"

"Meh, who cares. More importantly, there's something important I need to tell you!"

_You couldn't tell us all at the restaurant?!_

"Heheheh!" She pointed upwards. "Four heh's!"

"No, that was just three."

"Aarrgh! If you've got time to nitpick others, then hurry up and meet me at the restaurant!"

_Really? That's what you broke my lock for?! Really?!_

She jumped off him, giggling as she left his room, saying, "I'll explain the deets there!"

_Why is this my life?_

Hajime tossed the bed sheet aside, and prepared for the day. When he left the cottage, he saw that his door handle was completely busted. _How am I going to fix this?!_ It was almost enough to distract him from seeing the change in his mailbox.

_Hm, what's this? My icon is glowing...does that mean there's something inside?_

Curious, Hajime opened the blue box and reached inside, pulling out a vial.

"Huh? This label reads...stardust?"

He brought the bottle upwards, shining it in the sun, staining his face with reflections of a myriad of greens and creams with sharp specks of silver. Little white flakes shimmered, buoyantly dancing up and down the vial, encased in an almost transparent greenish liquid. He brought it closer, running his hands over the bottle, finding a deep crack to one side. _Oh, it's cracked, but I guess it's not deep enough to break it._ His thumb moved along the spiraling fracture, feeling its rough and chipped edges exploding outwards, like a real star.

 _Maybe I should go to the supermarket and see if they have something I can fix it with. I mean, I have to go there anyway to replace my door handle...Then again..._ Hajime tipped the bottle over, putting the crack against the sun, and stared at its colored shadow rippling on the ground. _It's very pretty like this..._

He carefully placed the vial in his pocket, and stepped onto the stone path leading to the restaurant. He turned to the left, and his heart ruptured as he blinked.

_Woah! Where did he come from?!_

"...Komaeda? G'Morning."

The other student clutched his arms, looking down into the pool. "Ah...yeah, good morning Hinata."

_Huh? He doesn't look so good..._

There were dark circles under Komaeda's eyes, and he was frowning a bit. Hajime said, "Hey, are you feeling okay?" While reaching out and grasping Komaeda's hand, but the other student badly flinched back and coiled that hand into a fist, using the other to wipe off Hajime's touch.

"Y-Yeah...I um..." Komaeda looked at Hajime. "Hinata, I don't want you to touch me like that anymore; it makes me feel uncomfortable."

_W-What?!..._

"Oh...okay, I won't..." He exhaled, trying to smile. "I'm glad you told me..."

_This...means progress, right? He feels comfortable enough with me now, to tell me that..._

Hajime swallowed, and shut his eyes for a long second, then steeled his wavering mouth into a line. _Right, this doesn't mean we're not still friends._

A slight smile finally graced his lips as he said, "A-Anyway, there's something I want to show you." Hajime stepped closer to Komaeda, bringing out the vial of stardust. "I found it in my mailbox this morning, but there's no indication of who sent it, just the label that comes with all of the presents from the vending machine..."

Standing close together, the boy's shadows darkened the bottle, enriching its shades of green. Komaeda softly said, "...Do you like it?"

Hajime grinned, "Yes, a lot. In fact..." He took a step back, shining the bottle in the light, closing one eye as he moved it so that it overlapped half of Komaeda. "Hmm...I was right," He opened his eye, beaming. "It reminds me of you. See?" He twirled the bottle in his hand. "It has your colors."

Komaeda jabbed his nails into his palms, clenching his teeth, sharply inhaling as he stared at Hajime for a moment. "It's about to break."

"Well, sorta. I think it won't as long as I'm careful...I mean, I could try and seal it, but..." Hajime gently caressed the shattered whorls. "I like feeling it, and it gleams rather nicely. Would you like to try?"

Komaeda swallowed and said, "No..."

"Hm, okay." Hajime sighed. "You know, I think the restaurant is going to be a complete mess today. I'm going to leave this back in my room just in case." He turned and said, "See you there."

* * *

Once at the restaurant, Hajime saw all of the other students in a tight circle around Kuzuryu, as he introduced himself to everyone, hoping to make up for past mistakes. Of course, Saionji didn't accept it. The yakuza knelt on the ground, and to prove his sincerity, slit his own stomach. Nidai and Soda carried him to the hospital with Tsumiki, while Nanami talked with Saionji, briefly glancing at Hajime as he gave her a temporary half-smile.

When Komaeda mentioned Owari was missing, Hajime sighed again. _Great, I really didn't mean that it would all happen today...I should tell Nidai to watch over her when he gets back..._

The remaining students solemnly ate their breakfast, Saionji remaining abnormally silent. Nanami sat with Hajime, conversing about the morning events. Komaeda stayed across the room, away from the pair, and left quickly.

Nanami pulled her hood over her head and said, "I'm worried about Owari...I think I'll join Nidai and watch over her today."

"Well, just be careful, okay? If she does something reckless, I don't want you caught in the crossfire. I'd rather not rely on Monokuma to help us out again..."

She nodded and smiled. "Thanks for your concern, Hinata, but I'll be fine." She patted him on the shoulder and left for the hospital.

_Now then, what should I do today? I guess first is fixing my broken lock..._

* * *

After scouring the supermarket and finding no locks, Hajime gave up. _Am I really going to just have to have an unlocked door from now on?! Maybe Komaeda can help me bully Monokuma into fixing it..._

Thinking about the other student caused Hajime to look for him on his map, but he couldn't find his icon anywhere. _So he turned it off...does he want to be left alone? He did say he was fine, but it looked like he didn't get much sleep last night...I guess he's resting?_

He spent the rest of the morning trying to come up with creative ways to lock his door, but ultimately failed to find any viable solution. He then strolled around the islands, finally ending up in Jabberwock Park in the mid-afternoon.

The arcade machine was gone, further proving that it was somehow transplanted to Nanami's cottage. The park itself reverted back to how it was before the second motive. Spanish moss gently swayed in the sea breeze, grazing against the stone-strewn paths surrounding the timer. Hajime breathed in the petal flavored air, walking to the edge of the park, away from the barbaric timer in the center, when he saw a familiar visage gazing past the mixture of hibiscus and sharp leaves to the lazy ocean.

"Ah, Hinata...you've caught me again."

Hajime walked over and stood next to Komaeda, drinking in the swells of the ocean and murmurs of the moss. "It seems so. Mind if I stay with you?"

"Of course not...Actually, I should be the one begging you to spend time with me..."

"You know I'd be happy to hang out with you, if you asked."

"That's not true, I'm sure you'd rather be with someone else."

Hajime paused to fully consider that statement. "Right now..." He glanced at the whorls in Komaeda's curls framing his face. "...I only want to be with you."

"...Because we're _friends?"_

"Yeah."

"Well then you should be prepared for intense bad luck to hit you."

"...What do you mean by that?!"

Komaeda finally turned half-way to him. "I was born with a unique type of hope...I told you before about my talent?"

"You're talking about how you get both good and bad luck?"

"Yep. Except it's more than that..." He bit his lip and glanced to the flower beds lining the bushes. "I don't get it randomly, it comes in cycles."

"What...?"

"Whenever I experience bad luck, it results in good luck in the end. As long as I exist, it will definitely happen."

Hajime tilted his head a bit, silent.

Komaeda added, "Like with this situation...seeing my beloved embodiments of hope trapped on this island and forced to kill each other so pathetically...such hopeless bad luck is all just a preparation for the good luck that will arrive in the end." He grasped his arms and an abrupt shiver racketed his body. "I'm going mad from excitement! All that good luck that will come...how amazing!"

_Is that why he has so much faith that it will all be okay in the end? Because of his luck...?_

Hajime waited for Komaeda to calm a bit, before replying, "But I don't understand, how is that cyclical?"

"Well..." Komaeda half-smiled. "Allow me to give you an example. Let's say you end up in a car accident and are hospitalized. On its own, that would seem like bad luck, right?"

"Sure."

"But then you meet a lovely nurse at the hospital, and end up becoming a lovey-dovey happy couple--"

Hajime snorted. "...Is that what you fantasize about?"

"Wh-What!? No, of course not."

"Riight. You've never thought about a _lovely nurse_ taking care of you before."

A blush heated Komaeda's face and he swallowed. "N-No. You know I don't like hospitals..."

"Ah, right."

_Still, he's getting flushed for some reason. If it's not the nurse part, then that means...it's the taking care of him part?_

Komaeda pulled his bangs back. "A-Anyway, I mean that the ending makes it ultimately an example of good luck, right?"

"Well..."

"You never would've met him at all if you hadn't experienced the bad luck of getting in an accident. So even though you had bad luck in the beginning, the good luck that came after wiped it all away."

"So you're saying it's cyclical since your good luck neutralizes any bad luck you experience...?"

"Yep, the bigger the bad luck I get at first...the good luck that comes afterward is always so big that it wipes out all of that bad luck completely."

Hajime paused, letting the trees speak for him as he thought, and said, "But...then is the opposite true? Do you ever have good luck countered later by bad?"

The other student exhaled slowly, staring at Hajime, almost memorizing the shape of his eyes, and replied, "Yes...but it always turns out to be good luck in the end..."

"Oh..."

_Wait...so his bad luck is followed by good luck, and his good luck is followed by bad luck, which is then followed by good luck? What...?_

"Hinata, you still look confused." He smiled. "If we twist the previous example...then let's say you ran into this nurse one day completely by chance. And you keep running into him despite having entirely different schedules..."

Hajime smirked. "And by your good luck, you end up becoming a lovey-dovey couple."

"Right. But then..." Komaeda softly continued, "On one of your dates, he gets into a car accident and dies..." He glanced back at Hajime. "If you never met him, then he wouldn't have been there that day, and he would still be alive..."

"...But in the end, it becomes okay...?"

"Well, after his death...you lost your job, your friends...you weren't able to do anything anymore..." His voice whispered out, "You could barely even move...but one day, you checked the things he left you, and found a random artwork that turned out to be a hidden masterpiece worth a fortune...doesn't that make the encounter ultimately an example of good luck?"

"...Does stuff like that really happen to you...?"

"Yeah...that has always been my experience. That's why I'm called the Ultimate Lucky student."

Hajime thought back to Komaeda's initial words. "But...what does that have to do with me?"

Komaeda sighed. "I never get purely good luck. It's always preceded or followed by bad luck..." He scrunched his hands into fists. "Hinata...I've been so _lucky_ to have you stay with my useless self like this..."

"...So you think you'll be hit with bad luck that will..."

He nodded. "That's why you shouldn't be around someone as utterly repulsive as me. You'll just get needlessly hurt...or worse." Komaeda wrapped himself with his arms, digging his nails into his flesh. "Although if Monokuma decides to declare it a murder, then I guess your death that way can still be for hope..."

_W-What?!_

"You really believe that I'll have a freak accident, since it's only because of _luck_ that I'm with you?!"

"Isn't it true? It has to be because of luck that I...that you..." He paused and said, "I mean, we met because of luck, didn't we?"

_Dammit, I really want to pull his arms apart right now, and..._

"No, we didn't."

"Huh, what?"

Instead, Hajime took a step closer, almost brushing Komaeda's shoulder with his own, and said, "We've already met because we both went to Hope's Peak. We just forgot about it...so it wasn't luck that brought us together again, it was...fate."

"Hinata, you can't know that. We may have never really met before, and even if we did, there's nothing that says we would've been... _friends_ like this."

Hajime clenched his teeth a bit, looking down. "Then...are you really saying that it was just luck that you decided to wait for me to wake up on the beach? Only because of luck...?"

"Yes. I was lucky that I noticed you."

He searched Komaeda's eyes for any indication that he was lying, finding none. "I don't believe that...and I'll prove to you that it wasn't luck. That it isn't because of luck that we're friends."

The other student scoffed. "That's impossible."

"I just have to have no bad luck happen to me. If it doesn't happen, then it wasn't because of luck, right?"

"But it will happen! It's my talent, Hinata."

"Then, we're just going to have to disagree, again."

_We've been doing that a lot lately..._

Hajime added, smiling a little, "In fact, I'll spend the rest of the day with you and show you that nothing will happen to us."

"You know that's irrelevant; it will happen sometime in the future..."

"Heh, then I'll just have to spend all my time with you and have no bad luck hit us..." He sighed. "Well, aside from being in this whole situation in the first place, and whatever plans Monokuma has in store for us..."

Komaeda tightened his hold over himself. "You'll regret it..."

"Komaeda, I promise you I won't."

"You'll grow sick of me."

"Nope."

"I'll...I'll disturb you too much, and then--"

"Honestly, I doubt it. I mean, I've stuck by you so far, right?"

Komaeda frowned. "Th-Then..."

Grinning, Hajime retorted, "As much as I'd love to continue arguing with you all day, you still seem a bit fatigued...why don't we just relax for now? I really think you should take a nap for a few hours."

He sighed, unraveling himself. "You're right, I would like to sleep, but I couldn't last night or this morning...it's why I'm here."

"There's a lot of shade under these trees...we could just stare into space for awhile until you drift off, or at least completely relax."

"That seems utterly boring for you."

"No, it isn't."

Komaeda looked askance, but said, "Th-Then...okay."

Hajime held out his hand. "So, come with me."

The other boy gazed at it, swallowing, not moving, staring at it long enough for Hajime's arm to start to hurt, before finally grasping it and letting himself be led past the flowering bushes to the craggily snaking tropical trees with wide trunks.

Hajime settled them both against the base of a tree; its roots layered next to them and its branches stretching parallel to the ground, moss creeping down the edges, casting scented shadows. Grassy fields decorated with poofy white wildflowers and sunflower-yellow dandelions extended for a few meters outwards, then crumbled into a cliff with the peaceful sea beyond.

Komaeda closed his eyes, leaning on Hajime a bit, but not quite enough. He evened his breathing and said, "Then you can't blame me if something happens, Hinata."

"...If it rains, I'm totally blaming you. And if somehow a coconut falls on our heads. Also if we're leaning against poison ivy right now. Totally your fault, all of it."

Komaeda cracked an eye open and stared at him.

"What? You've completely given me free rein to blame all petty forms of bad luck on you now. It still isn't going to scare me away."

He closed his eye and scoffed, "You're impossible," shuffling the hairs on Hajime's neck.

"...You wouldn't tolerate me if you didn't like it at least a little bit, right?"

At that, Komaeda smirked, remaining silent, slowly easing into sleep.

_I'm never getting a straight answer from him, am I?_

* * *

For the rest of the afternoon, Hajime let his body fall lazily asleep, soaking up the sunbaked shadows of the trees, listening to the leaves roaring louder than the murmurs of the ocean, letting each breath from Komaeda's lungs dance on the surface of his skin. He watched ripples burst upon the water as the warm gales hit, then calmed into large swathes of glowing blue swells, lulling him further into listlessness. He dozed off for a bit, waking up when Komaeda shuffled to a new position, still asleep.

Hajime stared at the other student, who leaned more and more on him, and wondered. _What did he mean before about me making him feel uncomfortable...? He took my hand when it was offered..._ He winced. _Ah, maybe that's it...I guess I have been impulsively touching him without really asking first...but he didn't seem to mind, before...unless he was just hiding that he was uncomfortable..._

His eyes followed the sharp edges of Komaeda's nose, contrasting it to the corners of his face, turning his head more to fully see the dips in his mouth, the rim of his jaw, the curves of his throat.

 _But then...is it me that makes him upset, or is it just sudden contact? If it's the former...th-then is it a sign that he dislikes me, or just touching in general?_ Hajime silently scoffed, and rubbed his jaw. _Well, he doesn't seem to mind it so much when he initiates it, although it's just like him to forget about everyone else's boundaries except his own...No, if it took this long for him to say something, then he obviously struggles with that too..._

_Still...I actually haven't seen him touch anyone else but me...but that's meaningless, I haven't been around him all that much..._

Hajime started to count Komaeda's eyelashes when he realized that staring at someone sleeping was a somewhat creepy thing to do, so he stopped. He glanced back to the sea breeze stirring the waves. _Actually, he really hasn't been around many other people, even in the beginning when we first got kidnapped here...His talent, his luck...is that why he distances himself from everyone? To prevent anything bad from happening to those he's around...? But that implies..._ He concentrated on the brush of curls tickling his neck. _It implies something like...like he cares about us, or at least like what he said earlier...he'd rather have us murdered for hope than killed by just bad luck, accidentally. Yeah, that's probably the reason..._

* * *

The sky bulged with splatches of reds and oranges and meek purples as the moon slowly rose in the encroaching night. He was about to wake Komaeda for dinner, when the bushes behind them screamed.

"Jeeeezzz! Hinata! You're so hard to find! Be more considerate, will you?"

Mioda crunched through the leaves, pelting them with invitation cards.

"Wh-What?! You again..." He felt Komaeda stir beside him, beginning to wake up.

"Huuh? And Komaeda's with you? That's not fair, Hinata. You have to invite me too on your dates next time."

"Th-This isn't a date!"

Komaeda yawned, stretching. Hajime grabbed one card, stood up, and added, "You're here to invite us to...a Recovery Party for Kuzuryu at Titty Typhoon?"

_He slit his stomach this morning...can he even make it there tonight?_

"Exacto-mungo! 9:00 pm tonight on the dot! Be there or be square." She saluted to both of them, and said, "Well then, Ibuki has some preparations to make so I'll go on ahead! I'll leave it to you both!"

Mioda vanished through the bushes, sprinting to her next victim. Hajime sighed and glanced down at Komaeda rubbing his eyes, and offered him a hand. The other boy took it, grabbing the second invitation card, and stood up, wincing at his knees wobbling a bit. He said, "9:00...that's pretty soon, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Are you thinking of going?"

"Well, since Mioda graciously invited us both, who am I to decline her?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't mind just staying here with you, or getting dinner somewhere, instead..."

"Ah, but that would be rude to Mioda. After all, she took so much trouble to do this out of her own goodwill. You wouldn't want to ignore that, right?"

"I guess not..."

"Then let's go together...that is, if you don't mind--"

"I wonder how much time I have to spend with you until you start to believe that I actually enjoy it."

"Th-That's..." Komaeda stepped back and looked away.

"It's fine, I'll just await the day when you do." Hajime walked through the bushes, holding them out for Komaeda, who eventually followed. They meandered through the islands, making their way to the music venue as the stars blossomed in the night sky. Komaeda stayed half a step behind Hajime, staring at him in silence.

* * *

Once at the venue, with the dark stars gleaming over the brackish waves, the pair met Tanaka, who howled, "Tonight's constellations herald the banquet that celebrates Kuzuryu's resurrection...This too must be the law of causality."

Hajime tilted his head and replied, "You're saying that it's a good night out for the party?"

Komaeda glanced at Hajime. "No, that's not it. I think he means that this party is fated to be good."

Tanaka crossed his arms and laughed. "Fuhahahahahaha! How idealistic! Now then, let us begin the ceremony of darkness! It's nearly showtime!"

A smile drifted onto Hajime's face as he followed Tanaka into the concert hall. He held the door open for Komaeda, but he shrugged and said, "Ah, Hinata...I think I'll wait out here for everyone to arrive first."

"What? Why?"

"W-Well...since everyone's going there to celebrate Kuzuryu's recovery...no matter what, I think it's too rude for someone like me to go inside before they arrive..."

Komaeda stepped back to the road, by the edge where the water lapped against the gravel. Hajime closed the door and followed after him, when the other student glanced back and added, "You don't have to worry about me. You can go inside first..."

"If you want some time alone, you just have to tell me, you know?"

Komaeda nodded, and at that, Hajime went inside the music venue. He spotted Nanami milling around with some of the other students, all surprised that Kuzuryu decided to show up. The gamer mentioned that Owari managed to evade both her and Nidai, thus her absence for the party. When Sonia and Soda entered the venue a little while later, Komaeda finally went inside, and that was when lights and flames erupted across the hall.

The stage lit up, and Mioda appeared with a purple-red guitar. And then she began 'singing.'

_OW! Oh, fuck my eardrums...! She really loves death metal, doesn't she..._

The remaining students panicked in horror, except for Saionji who loved it and wished for an encore. The students were glad she showed up and allowed herself not to forgive, but to tolerate cooperating with Kuzuryu. It was a nice moment of reprise, but Hajime couldn't help but feel anxious over Monokuma's next plot. _There's no way he will let us have this peace..._ Mioda began her next song, and Hajime was tempted to revise his definition of 'peace.'

Komaeda stood next to Hajime and winced. "...Huh? There's still more?"

Hajime leaned into his ear as Mioda sung her ballad and whispered, "Want to ditch together? Please?"

The other student smiled, saying, "Maybe after this one."

Hajime shook his head, about to respond, but Monomi crashed through the doors, imploring everyone to stop Owari from fighting Monokuma. Hajime sighed as Nidai and the rest sprinted after her to the first beach. _Damn, I really hope nothing will happen to her...Please let us make it in time..._

At the beach, the students saw Owari kneeling on the sand, growling at her inability to even graze Monokuma, who taunted her. Nidai couldn't believe that the fastest athlete he'd ever seen couldn't even touch the bear, but Komaeda exhaled and said, "Because it's possible, that's why she's in this situation, right? As long as she ended up like that, there's not much we can really do about it. At the very least, we should...overcome the despair of Owari's death, and use it as fuel to bolster our hope."

_That's pessimistic of him, we can still get her out of this, can't we...?_

Komaeda looked at the yakuza, and added, "Like Kuzuryu did, you see."

Kuzuryu got upset at that, but Nidai took control of the situation, and just as Monokuma prepared to finish off Owari, he jumped in front of her, shielding her with his body, taking the brunt of all the bullets. The world turned white as Owari gasped at Nidai's bleeding body, growing still on the ground.

"N-Nekomaru...Why did you save...?"

"Ha...Isn't it obvious? Supporting their athletes...is a manager's duty..." He coughed. "H-However...what a shame. For someone like Nekomaru Nidai to...It was just a little shot from a bazooka. I really am the worst...Heh...hehe..ha-argh..."

Owari grasped him. "G-Get ahold of yourself! Nekomaru!"

"Akane...the time I've spent with you...i-it wasn't so bad..." He glimpsed into her eyes. "Don't...die...Akane..."

"Kh...!"

"N-...Nekomaruuuuu!"

Hajime glared at the bear and yelled, "No! You have to save him, otherwise you're breaking one of your own rules. Owari, please tell me he's still alive...!"

She checked Nidai's body for a pulse. "H-Hold on...It's faint, but his heart is still beating! He's not dead yet!"

The other students commanded Monokuma to save him like he did with Kuzuryu, and the bear acquiesced again, summoning his ambulance, and spirited Nidai off somewhere. The bright feelings of cooperation and friendship that seemed so strong just a few moments ago cracked as the students despaired over Nidai's fate. But Owari refused to give in, believing that Nidai will return safe and alive. The students silently made their way back to their cottages and turned in for the night, remembering how nightmarish their situation truly was.

Before Hajime called it a night, he caught Nanami outside her door. He touched her shoulder and softly said, "It wasn't your fault. If I hadn't told you that she would focus on the beasts instead of Monokuma..."

"No, Hinata..." She sighed. "If you hadn't, then I think I wouldn't even have tried to check on her today..."

"I don't believe that, of course you would. I...I just wish---"

A smidge of a smile graced her lips. "Me too. I know he'll come back to us. He's gotta."

Hajime nodded, and Nanami left to her cabin saying, "Good night." Sighing, Hajime went back to his room and slept restlessly.

* * *

He woke up still anxious, still tired. He dragged a hand over his face, splashing water on it, trying to prepare for the new day. He avoided any students outside, and trudged straight to the restaurant.

No one else was there. It seemed like everyone was avoiding the morning, too. He was about to gather breakfast, when he heard violent steps crashing against the stairs. Komaeda ran straight towards him and exclaimed, "Ah, Hinata. There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Hm? What is it?"

The curly haired student stopped right in front of him, breathing a bit heavily. "I've just...I've been thinking about this for a really long time, now..." He closed his eyes, trying and failing to calm himself, before opening them and added, "See, I-I want to tell you that..."

"...What?"

"You absolutely disgust me."

_...!_

His countenance cruelly changed; his eyes glared as his lips curled in a sharp frown. Hajime noticed a touch of anger lacing Komaeda's face as he sighed, looking down on Hajime. "I can't stand even looking at you anymore. You completely bore me. In fact, there's no one else I hate more than you, _Hinata."_

"K-Komaeda...? I-Is something wrong?" He stared at Komaeda, but nothing seemed out of place, but then why...?

"Nothing's wrong...unless you mean the fact that you taint everyone here with your utter repulsiveness."

"Wh-What?! You can't mean that..."

"Honestly, did you really believe that we could be friends? I mean, I hate talentless people and you are the worst of them." He tossed a hand against his head and sneered. "I doubt you even have a talent...have you ever considered that you might've been at Hope's Peak for a different reason? _Heh,_ you're probably just some sick fanatic who adores talent so much you wandered in the academy and randomly got caught up in this terrible game."

"N-No, Komaeda you don't...! You can't..."

_He doesn't believe that! He...he can't...he's just lying, right...?_

Hajime clenched his eyes shut, swallowing. "Th-Then is everything you told me before a lie? If this is how you truly feel..."

"Of course it is." His hands spread wide as he laughed. "I absolutely despise you, I'm still in shock that it took you this long to notice."

Hajime flinched back, mouth wavering. "I-I don't..."

"Stop talking to me. In fact, go subject anyone else to your inane presence; I couldn't care less who it is as long as you never speak to me again."

He bit his skin with his nails, refusing to look at Komaeda. _That can't be true..._

Hajime glared right back at the other student and steeled his expression. "No. I refuse to believe that this is how you really think. I know when you're lying to me, Komaeda, so please stop it..."

"I'm not lying. Everything I've said is the absolute truth."

"You are," he took a step closer to him. "I can believe that you...hate me, and find me disgusting, but I know that you at least tolerate my presence, or you would've sent me away a long time ago. So why didn't you? Why has it taken so long for you to say this?"

"That's because..." Komaeda clutched his arm, glancing away.

"Because you're lying."

"No!" He brought a fist up in determination. "It's because I had to be completely sure you were the real Hinata and not a clone sent to take his place!"

_What the fuck...?_

"Wh-Wha...?"

"That's right! Kuzuryu's a clone, too. And I heard from Monokuma that Nidai couldn't be saved, so a transfer student is apparently going to come soon as a replacement...Come, Hinata." Komaeda held out a hand, waiting. "Even someone as deplorable as you must join us. We all have to give that person a warm welcome!"

Hajime squinted at him. "Are...are you messing with me?!"

"I never mess around! In order to prove it..." Komaeda ducked closer to him and whispered, "I'll explain it specially to you...listen carefully, I've finally discovered who the traitor is!" He smiled. "It's Togami! Yep, he's been alive all this time!"

_W-What's happening to him...?_

More steps accumulated up the stairs, and a crying Owari was dragged in along with a weirder-than-usual Mioda.

Komaeda turned to them and blurted, "Be careful Mioda! Hinata's dangerous. He wants to kill you and eat you."

"Wh-What the fuck are you saying?!"

Mioda saluted at him. "Mr. Hinata! I am not tasty. Please do not eat me."

"He's obviously lying!"

"I see! So it was a lie!"

Komaeda glared at Hajime, and retorted, "That's not true. It's not a lie, I never tell lies."

_What's wrong with all of them...?!_

"Understood." Mioda crawled towards him. "So it is not a lie. It may be necessary for me to beg for my life after all!"

Tsumiki and Saionji entered as Hajime said, "W-What's going on with them...?"

The nurse ran to Mioda, fretting over her. "She has an extremely high fever. That's probably the cause..."

"Fever...?" Hajime moved to Komaeda. "Hey, I'm going to touch your forehead, okay?" He pressed his hand against the other student's head, checking his temperature against his own. "You...You're hot?!"

Komaeda smirked at him. "I know I am."

He glanced back at Tsumiki. "His heat is abnormal?!"

She nodded. "Th-That's right, I think they all have terribly high fevers..."

Komaeda turned back to Hajime, laughing. "I don't have a fever, I feel extremely great today!"

Before Hajime could respond, Monokuma appeared along with the rest of the students. The mad bear beat up Monomi, before announcing his next motive, the Despair Disease. It was apparently contracted through tiny insects living on the island. He giggled as he explained that it gives it's victims an extremely high fever along with various symptoms that are full of despair. The bear danced and said, "For instance, Komaeda is affected by the Liar Disease---"

_What...?!_

"---Owari has the Coward disease, and Mioda has the Gullible Disease, I guess?" He paused his dance, then changed the tune. "Puhuhu! Be careful! Sometimes the disease can get passed from person to person just like a cold! Don't put your guard down just because you don't have the disease. It'd be awful if everyone got sick..."

He droned on and on about having no cure, when Owari wailed, "It-It's all my fault...I'm-- _hic!_ S-Sorry I'm always bothering you guys..."

Komaeda spit out, "I've decided! As an apology, I'm going to kill Hinata! Are there any charcoal briquettes somewhere?!"

"Umm..." Tsumiki fidgeted. "I'm pretty sure I found some at the supermarket..."

He blurted, "D-Don't encourage him!"

Komaeda grinned at Hajime. "No, you're wrong...I'm not Nagito. To tell you the truth, Nagito Komaeda's a fake name. I'm sorry I've kept it a secret till now." He smiled even wider, clutching himself. "Maan, whatever. I feel so great today! This Despair Disease is awesome!"

Hajime stepped back a smidge as Komaeda's eyes spinned. "Ahhhahahaah! Despair, despair, despair, despair! It's amazing! You all should get it, too! Especially you, Hinata. I mean, we're all done for. There's no such thing as hope! We all have to die from this disease..."

He watched, paralyzed, as sweat gathered across Komaeda's body, as the other boy clamped his hands against his head, as he pulled his hair and gasped out, "Th-That's...the...o...nly...way..."

His body jerked into movement as Komaeda's eyes glazed back and he started to fall. Hajime caught him, relieved that he was still breathing, just slower than Hajime would've liked. His heart rate accelerated when he noticed foam spewing out of Komaeda's mouth, and he bit his lip and hefted Komaeda's arm over his shoulder, grabbing his waist, and yelled, "Tsumiki, we have to get him to the hospital now!" He didn't wait for her response, and shuffled down the stairs, dragging Komaeda with him.

_Th-This is bad...dammit, why did I wait so long...?! I should've taken him there as soon as I heard he had a fever!_

He limped slowly towards the hospital, pausing whenever Komaeda started to breathe more heavily. They were on the bridge to central island, when the other student briefly became a bit more coherent and said, "Hinata, I dislike you touching me."

"I know, I'm sorry. But I need to bring you to the hospital, so try to relax for now, okay? I promise you, we will get you better again."

At that, Komaeda started shaking into Hajime's neck, wheezing. "I-I'm already c-completely healthy..."

"Komaeda, please...just calm down." He stopped them, letting Komaeda lean on him. "Here, just breathe with me, okay? Inhale...Exhale..."

Hajime stood for a minute, slowing his breath, filling and emptying his lungs of air. Komaeda followed along, thankfully remaining silent as he slowly started to relax a little. Hajime tightened his grip on the other boy's arm and waist and said, "Let's go. And try to stop speaking..."

They shambled through central island, and on their way to third island, Tsumiki, Mioda, Owari, and Kuzuryu finally caught up to them. The nurse paced towards both of them, her hands fidgeting. "U-Um...Hinata, I can help carry him, if you'd like...?"

_Yeah, that might get us to the hospital faster...arghuhh!_

He felt his throat constrict as Komaeda pressed his hand further against him, as he said, "Ah, Tsumiki! There's no one else I'd rather have take care of me. Please save me from Hinata, he's going to kill me with his incompetence..." He coughed, racketing his body as Hajime paused to let him calm down.

Hajime tried to sigh. "I-I think it's better if you guys go ahead. He's calmer when there aren't many distractions around him..."

"O-Oh...okay." She and Kuzuryu collected Owari and Mioda, and they briskly walked to the hospital, out of sight. Komaeda was still breathing irregularly, leaning against Hajime, his body a furnace.

_Dammit, is there nothing I can do for him right now?_

"Komaeda, it's going to be okay. You're going to get better, I know it."

The other student waited to even his breaths, before softly exhaling into Hajime's neck. "I believe you."

He winced, and began shuffling towards the Hospital again. _I know you're lying, but I promise you, I'll make it the truth...!_

* * *

At the hospital, they met Tsumiki and Kuzuryu in the lobby. She directed Hajime to Komaeda's room, and he lay the other student on the bed as Tsumiki grabbed a set of hospital gowns. "U-Uh, Hinata? I'm going to go make the infected change their clothes, and then put them to sleep. So if you'd wait in the lobby?"

He held out his hand, instead. "Here, I'll take care of Komaeda while you help Owari and Mioda, alright?"

"O-Okay..." She gave him one gown and added, "There's slippers in the cabinet for him, too. I'll come back when I've finished with the others."

Hajime nodded. "Thanks, Tsumiki."

The nurse slightly smiled, and headed out to the other rooms. Hajime turned towards Komaeda, resting on the covers, and placed the gown on the bed. He unzipped Komaeda's shoes and pulled them off, along with his socks, settling them on the floor. He went to Komaeda's shoulders and whispered, "Hey, you're going to have to sit up a bit, okay?"

Komaeda remained still, his chest moving slowly as his eyes stayed closed. Hajime barely nudged him forward, careful not to disturb him too much. He slipped the parka off one arm, then the other, laying Komaeda back down. Hajime balled the sweat-stained jacket, piling it on the floor. _I'll wash them later..._

He placed Komaeda's arms above his head as he slid his shirt off and tossed it on his parka, but Komaeda cracked his eyes open. "H-Hinata...?"

"Don't worry, Tsumiki will be back soon to check up on you." He grabbed the gown and said, "Here," as Komaeda dragged one hand through a sleeve, then slightly lifted himself as Hajime brought the gown underneath him, and moved his other hand through its sleeve.

He closed his eyes again as Hajime tied the gown together, relaxing a smidge, but rasped out, "M-My..."

"I know."

Hajime slipped his hands inside the gown, unbuckling Komaeda's jeans, dragging the zipper down, and shuffled the pants off, placing them in the pile with the others. Komaeda shivered, and Hajime wrapped the remaining bed sheet over him as someone knocked. He went to the door and let Tsumiki inside.

She went to Komaeda, checking his breathing, checking his body for signs of inflammation. "Has he lost consciousness again?"

"No, just the one time at the restaurant."

"I see..." She glanced back at Hajime and twitched her hands together. "U-Um, Hinata...? I-If it's not too much trouble..."

"What do you need?"

"W-Well, I restocked the medical supplies yesterday, but...we don't have any food or drinks here...Uhh I'm so sorry! P-Please don't hate me for that!"

"You want me to get them, right? Anything else?"

"Y-Yeah, if you could get some hand towels and wet wipes..."

"Got it." He stared at Komaeda. "I'll be right back."

He left for the supermarket, taking Kuzuryu with him. The yakuza told him that the other students decided to quarantine themselves in the motel. That information filtered through Hajime's brain, then quickly discarded as he searched the supermarket for Tsumiki's requested items. He filled up a bag with fruits, jellos, soups, and crackers. Kuzuryu carried the towels and wipes, along with a portable stove. Hajime hefted a pack of water bottles, and they both made their way back to the hospital.

They placed their supplies on the chairs in the lobby; Hajime took a chair and went to Komaeda's room again. Tsumiki left, and re-entered with a couple of the fruits, water bottles, and a hand towel, placing them on the cabinet. Hajime continued to stare at Komaeda, saying, "Tell me what to do."

"Um, well right now...just make sure he drinks all the water, a-and he eats all that he can. Oh, if he feels too hot, you can wet the hand towel and apply it to his forehead. If he feels too cold, then there are extra blankets here..." She glanced to the cabinet. "W-We don't know much about this disease, so I would rather let the fever run its course, but if he feels too uncomfortable...then give him some ibuprofen. I'll be back regularly to check his temperature too, but if anything changes then come and get me, okay?"

"I will."

She nodded, and left to check on the girls. Hajime fixed the bed sheet, to make it more comfortable, as Komaeda fell back asleep. He then drew the curtains closed, darkening the room as best he could, and sat down on the chair. He sighed, trying to take his own advice and relax into his folded hands. _Why can't we just go back to yesterday...?_

He let the hours pass by, layering another blanket on the sleeping student when he shivered; taking it off and pressing the damp towel against his forehead when he heated. It was during one of these moments, as Hajime wrung out water from the cloth and placed it back on the other student's head, that Komaeda woke up.

"Hey, think you can drink something, now?"

He nodded, and said, "No."

Hajime uncapped a bottle and let Komaeda take it as he lifted the other student up, the damp rag falling. Komaeda slowly drank it, and Hajime brought him a clementine as he finished, peeling it. "And some food? I can get you something else..."

"Then give me Monokuma's left arm. I will eat nothing else."

A twinge of a smile landed on Hajime's mouth. "You know, I may just do that to see how you'd react." He gave him slices of clementine, and Komaeda ate a few, resting back down when done.

"Anything else you need?"

"Yep, come closer."

"Hm?" Hajime inched towards Komaeda's face. "What is it?"

_Oh wait, he's lying right now, isn't he? This may be bad..._

Komaeda nudged his head forward a bit and said, "I need you to kill yourself right now since I hate you so much." 

He suppressed his flinch. "I-I'm glad you don't really think that..."

"I saw some cyanide in those drawers; I can help you out, you know?"

Sighing, Hajime grabbed the rag again, and pressed it against Komaeda's forehead. "Honestly, I prefer you cryptic to you not-lying."

"Well, I don't like you that much either."

_...!_

Hajime forgot to breathe as he cataloged the minute expressions of surprise on Komaeda's face, as if he couldn't quite believe he said that aloud.

_Okay, so he doesn't...not like me...?_

"And I am definitely not in--- _clack!_ " Komaeda clamped his teeth shut, wincing.

"Komaeda," Hajime stirred Komaeda's hair away from his face, gently moving the rag across it. "I'm going to ignore what you say, so try and sleep again, okay? I won't take advantage of you like this, so just rest now."

The other student's jaw relaxed, but Hajime noted his look of confusion and added, "I'm going to believe that you don't hate me and don't like me either until you tell me otherwise when you get better."

Komaeda huffed, closing his eyes as Hajime retorted, "Hey, I can have selective hearing if I want to, nothing you can do to stop that."

He didn't get an answer as Komaeda descended back into sleep.

* * *

The students had a quick dinner outside, with Hajime and Tsumiki going back to Komaeda's room, checking up on him. His temperature was steadily rising, but it wasn't dangerous, so Hajime convinced her to take a nap in the on-call room, promising to come and wake her if his condition got any worse.

The evening passed much like the day, Komaeda remaining somewhat stable, the others also bearing with their fevers. _What are we going to do if...if this doesn't go away...?_ Kuzuryu had mentioned that the rest of the students were busy looking for a cure, but he couldn't put much faith in them. He needed Komaeda to just get better, to stop suffering so much, and maybe then could they find a cure together. _Although, he'd probably say something like 'another murder must occur, since it's the next motive.' But that implies that there is a cure, and Monokuma knows it...unless the bear plans to just leave us like this?!_

During the night, as Hajime opened the window to let a cooling breeze through, he glanced back at Komaeda, noticing that the sleeping student was abnormally still. He ran back, checking Komaeda's breath, not coming out, his pulse weak. He repeatedly jabbed the on-call button--- 

_He's not breathing! What do I do?! What do I do?! I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't, I don't---_

His breath and body stilled. _I know what to do._

He smashed the first aid kit open, grabbing the pocket mouth device and ran back to Komaeda, laying his head flat, tilting it back, lifting his chin up, checking for breath, finding none. He tossed the bed sheet aside, placed the device snugly on Komaeda's mouth, pinching his nose, and deeply, softly blew, noting his rising chest, then stopped and allowed it to fall, and repeated, his chest filling and emptying with his breaths. He exhaled another breath, letting his lungs swell; he inhaled another breath, letting his lungs expel. He fed Komaeda air, and continued to feed him for too many breaths, letting them escape just as easily. He still wasn't breathing by himself, slowly making Hajime feel lightheaded. His fingers softly pushed against the top of his neck, still pulsing, and he continued breathing for Komaeda as the doors sprung open and Tsumiki and Kuzuryu stormed in.

He refused to stop as she took over monitoring his pulse. _Dammit, don't tell me this shoddy place doesn't have any artificial oxygen, or even just a heart rate monitor...!_

He was on his twenty-sixth breath, when Komaeda's eyes opened and Hajime tore off the mask as he gasped, wheezing, his pallor still purplish. Tsumiki moved to check him again, and Hajime allowed it, elevating Komaeda's legs with pillows, finally noticing Monokuma also watching, but his eyes never left Komaeda's.

She said, "It looks like...his b-breathing has returned, but his pulse is still weak...his condition is unpredictable, and that's putting it lightly."

Komaeda's mouth moved, and Hajime bent closer, but no voice came out. He focused on his lips and read, "I-I feel...quite refreshed. You don't have to worry, I know I'm improving."

"He's not doing well, Tsumiki...what should we do?"

_Damn it, why am I so useless?!_

A dimmed voice finally accompanied the moving lips, and rasped, "H-Hinata...please leave me. I don't want you here anymore."

"I'm not leaving you, I promise...!" His fists clenched, shaking at his own inability to help.

"Huwa? Don't tell me you guys didn't read the notice?" The bear angered. "Jeez! How far has your generation fallen, to not even look at bulletin boards..."

Kuzuryu retaliated, "What the hell're you talking about?!"

"You can't stay overnight here!"

"Wh-What?!"

"'Hospital Precautions: If patients do not need to be accompanied, overnight stays by non-patients are expressly forbidden.'" He flushed and added, "Since Komaeda needs to be accompanied, I'll allow just one person to stay! The rest of you need to hurry up and get outta here."

_How tiring..._

Hajime moved to the first aid kit, picking up the sharpened scissors, saying, "Tsumiki, just making sure, but you sterilized these, correct?"

"Y-Yeah...?"

"Hm, good." He faced the bear, his gaze captured by Komaeda's open eyes. He spread the blades apart and sliced his left arm from an inch above the inside of his elbow to his wrist, hands not as steady as he thought, and nicked his veins.

_Fuck...! This hurts._

He shifted his arm away, spilling blood only on the floor as the others screamed and Komaeda's eyes widened a smidge. Hajime grimaced. "Hah...That's funny...This hurts more than I expected it too..." He gasped, laughing. "...That's a funny thought to have, isn't it?"

"Uwaaaaaaaaah! H-H-Hinata?!" She ran behind him to scour for bandages.

Without moving his stare, Hajime said, "There. Now I'm a patient here, so two of us can stay overnight."

"Arrrrrgh!! Fine, fine, fine. Hmph, I'll allow you to stay tonight..." Monokuma glared and retorted, "But that stupid trick won't work again! I'm watchin' you!"

Hajime ignored the bear as he disappeared, and concentrated on making sure Komaeda's condition remained stable for now, as Tsumiki cleaned his wound and stitched it closed. "Hurry up, or I'll do it."

"Uh-um, I'm s-sorry---"

He sharply sighed. "No, I'm irritable right now, it's not your fault." He stood inert, waiting and waiting and waiting for her to finish, which she did rather quickly. Once done, they both went to Komaeda's side.

Hajime felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to Kuzuryu's words. "Man, Hinata...you're crazy."

"You can't talk, you did the same."

"Whatever, man. I'll see you two in the morning. Try and get some rest for me, okay?"

They nodded as he left the hospital. The night passed by with them monitoring Komaeda's condition, trying and failing to break his fever.

* * *

The morning rays scalded them, Komaeda remaining asleep, sweating out his fever which refused to dissipate. It was so frustrating. "Can't we perform some tests? Or give him saline? He must be dehydrated..."

She shook her head. "W-We could take his blood, but there's no equipment to test it...and I couldn't find any IV bags, just needles..."

_Damn this useless place._

"So is this all we can do? Just wait until he gets better...?"

Tsumiki sighed. "I'll start mixing salt into the remaining bottles...and check on the other patients, too..."

She handed him the pack of wipes, and went to the girls. He took one in his right hand, pressing it against Komaeda's neck, absorbing his sweat, moving to his arms, using his left arm to lightly grasp the sleeping boy. _He needs a new robe..._

He discarded the used wipes, moving to his chest, then legs. He grabbed a new gown, untying Komaeda, slipping the sleeves off, sliding the old one out. He quickly moved his arms through the new one, lifting him a bit with one arm, tying him together. Komaeda started shivering again, and Hajime piled blankets on him as Tsumiki walked in.

"Um...Hinata? I can watch over him now, I think you need to rest..."

He dug his nails into his palm. "You're right...okay." He glanced to the pile of clothes and collected them, leaving as he said, "I'll just wash these, then. I'll be in the on-call room."

They were washed, then dried outside the lobby, and Kuzuryu forced him to sleep in the on-call room for a few hours. He woke up in the afternoon, going back to Komaeda, ignoring the pulsing line in his arm.

"Tsumiki...how's he doing?"

"Same as usual...his pulse is still weak." She glanced at him as tears welled in her eyes. "He might...slip into critical condition again today..."

"W-Why is he this sick? The other's aren't..."

"I-I don't know. It may affect people differently, o-or he may just have a weaker immune system..."

"Isn't there something we can give him? The pharmacy must have...something."

She shook her head. "Th-There's nothing...I don't want to give him anything he might be allergic to...B-But I brought the defibrillator down just in case!"

Hajime looked down at his stitches, wishing that the bear wasn't so idiotic. "I should stay the night here with you..."

"You don't need to. As long as I'm his nurse...I will never let Komaeda die...Ever."

"I trust you. But I don't want you to overexert yourself either, okay? Why don't you sleep for now, Kuzuryu and I can take this shift."

"O-Okay..."

"It's going to be fine, Tsumiki. He'll get you again if anything changes, alright?"

She nodded, yawned, and left upstairs, as Kuzuryu walked in with another chair. Together they waited patiently as Komaeda stayed asleep, condition thankfully not worsening, but not getting better, either. Monokuma's announcement rang, and Kuzuryu left to wake Tsumiki and deal with the transmission to the other students.

Hajime refused to move until the last possible second, trying to let the sounds of Komaeda breathing calm him a bit. _He needs to get better...there's still so much I have to tell him..._

The nurse walked in, and Hajime knew he had to leave, so he left, promising to be back first thing in the morning, then barely crashed into Mioda in the hallway.

"W-Whoa! What are you doing here? You...need to be resting!"

"To tell you the truth, I have been getting quite bored doing nothing but sleeping." She walked closer, glancing to Komaeda's door. "Also...it would just trouble you if I slept all the time, so I was hoping I can help you with anything...But it's better if I am sleeping, correct?"

"Yeah, just get some rest for now...It'd be a big help if you got better soon..."

"Yes! Understood!" She saluted, and shuffled back to her room.

He sighed, exiting the hospital for his cabin. _I hope they all get better real soon..._

* * *

His lights were off, and he plopped himself on his bed, eyes refusing to sleep. The darkness crept in, suffocating him, sucking him deeper and deeper into an endless pit of worry. _I can't stop believing that we will all escape from this island, but...No! This can't be all the time I get with him, I refuse it. He's going to get better...he has to._

He closed his eyes and a hazy scene drifted into being, like a drop of blood suspended in water, slowly diffusing into existence, infecting his consciousness, burning onto his eyelids. There was a snippet of a classroom that he'd seen before, that he'd seen nowhere. Voices mangled together, bombarding him with nonsense, except it wasn't nonsense and he his ears cried as he deciphered---

_"...Did you hear? Isn't it amazing? Apparently he's been accepted into Hope's Peak Academy..."_

He was at a desk that was his, but he wasn't at his desk. He stared out the window, not looking. He twisted his ears shut without moving, not listening to the words assailing him from behind, from forward, from someone whispering in his left ear, _"But was he_ that _exceptional?"_

_I...I don't want to hear this! Please...make it stop..._

_"Huuh? You don't know?"_

_"Hehahehheh! Knoww what?"_

_"Appparently you don't have to be exceptional to get into Hope's Peak."_

_"Buut...it's an academy that recruits only exceeptional students from around the world, right?"_

_No...! Damn, why can't I move?! Let me out of here, I don't belong here, I need to run from here---now! Please...I need to go somewhere else, to there, to the place I deserve to be, not here, to the place...where I can be more confident..._

_"Woow...I never knew that way was possible! So he's the same, too?"_

The walls bled green as the figures molted red, and started to dance and swirl and spin.

_"...Obviously. I mean, he doesn't have any speciial talents that Hope's Peak would be interested in..."_

_"He's just a normmal guy who can be found anywhere."_

_"Well, admirring the academy is free, but it must be tough for the parents who have to write the check."_

_Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me to become confident. Let me become someone who's confident in myself...let me become confident. Confident in myself...Wait..._

_Who are they talking about...?_

_Who...?_

_"Are they."_

_"Talking...about?"_

_Why can't I remember? Who are they talking about? Who..._

_Am..._

_I...?_

* * *

He felt his mind wake up, but his body remained heavy. So heavy and...hot, uncomfortably warm, overheating. There was something soft choking him; he couldn't move, paralyzed as his lungs constricted inwards, devouring themselves for air.

"Hee-Hee-Hee! N-No, stop...you're tickling me!"

"Urgh...Tsumiki...?!" She was draped over him, her arm pressed against his throat. "H-Hurry up...and move...I-I...I can't...breathe...!"

"Mmm...you've stopped moving...zzz...now I can finally relax and sleep...Wait, huh?" She raised her head. "Hyaaaaaah! Cyanosis! Ha-wa-wa! Hinata's gone blue! Waah! P-Please get ahold of yourself!" She shook him, still sitting on his legs.

"..."

"...Urg...urgh..."

"Ah, you've regained consciousness?! Oh, I'm so glad...I thought you died from suffocation..."

"T-Tsumiki? Why...why are you here...?" He sat up looking outside, rubbing his neck. "T-The morning announcement hasn't aired yet..."

_Wait...is this about Komaeda?!_

She yawned, rubbing her eyes. "Huhhh...now that you mention it...Ah! I came here to wake you up, but it seems like I accidentally fell asleep..."

_Wh-What kind of accident is that...?!_

She beamed at him, finally crawling off the bed. "But good news...Y-You see, Komaeda's condition has stabilized."

"R-Really?"

"And...I rushed over to let you guys know, but Kuzuryu's room was locked s-so..."

_What's with everyone forgetting about doorbells?!_

"He has a doorbell, you know?"

"A-Anyway, please hurry over! Komaeda can probably fully recover today!"

"Yeah, got it. Why don't you try Kuzuryu again as I get ready?"

She nodded and left, and he quickly prepared for the day. He left the cabin, and Tsumiki frowned, saying that Kuzuryu must be in a deep sleep. They rushed back to the hospital, Hajime about to enter Komaeda's room when he paused. And walked to Mioda's room, but---

"Ah, Hinata...the announcement hasn't played yet, so I believe Ibuki is still sleeping. Oh...I-I don't really know if that's true or not though..." She squeezed her eyes shut and whimpered. "I-I'm sorry, I spoke without your permission...! B-But it'd be bad if we woke her up..."

"I understand. She was up late yesterday, so...but I'll check on her later."

He opened the door to Komaeda's room, and smiled as he saw the curly haired student finally sitting up in bed on his own. "Hey, how are you feeling right now?" He was drawn into the room, taking his seat by the other boy, staring into his curling eyes. There was a bit of drool by his lips, so Hajime wiped it away as Komaeda opened his mouth to say---

"The twin Miodas are singing...I see, Mioda must've been a twin duo...The Veronicas!"

He asked Tsumiki, "He still has the Despair Disease...?"

"Y-Yeah. He's only recovered from his critical condition..."

Hajime sighed. "At least it's progress."

Komaeda moved his hand above the bed sheet, inching it towards Hajime. "They were utilizing their characteristic as twins and they've been taking turns appearing before me...which means, there are actually seventeen people on this island. The Veronicas...that's the answer!"

"You know, it's pretty cute that you've listened to that band."

Komaeda bit lis lip, unable to look at Hajime, and murmured, "Th-The Veronicas...is the answer..."

"Heee...but I'm so glad. I'm so relieved Komaeda regained consciousness. Waaah! I'm sooo glad!" Tsumiki walked sideways, spinning. "Ah, I feel dizzy. Somehow...everything is so dizzy..."

Hajime forced himself to glance at her. "Shouldn't you...get some rest already? You should be exhausted from nursing all night..."

She nodded. "Then, if you insist, I'll go back to the on-call room, and leave you here. Ah, but if Kuzuryu doesn't show...then don't forget about the morning transmission, okay? In fact, you should probably bring in more fruits from the lobby...we've run out here..."

"Yeah, I'll take care of that."

"Then...even though it's the morning, good night..." She turned and slowly wobbled to the door and left. 

He went back to Komaeda, locking onto the student's words as he said, "All alone with Hinata, huh...I can't stand being in the same room as you."

"Well, I'm happy that you're better now. You really made me worry, you know?"

"Hurry up and go away. I don't want to see your face anymore."

"I told you, I'm not leaving you." He reached towards Komaeda's hand, not touching. "May I?"

"No."

He touched the back of his palm with both hands, bringing it closer and closer, pressing his thumbs down in swirls as he grasped it. Holding it, he breathed slowly, drowning in air, for more than a moment. _He's okay now...his fever broke, so he should be okay now..._

He continued to stare at Komaeda, chronicling the healthier flush in his skin, the slightly more coherent look in his eyes. _Hmmm...even though I said I wouldn't...I really want to ask him right now...but I don't want to lose his trust...but I still want to hear him say it..._

Komaeda blurted, "Wh-What is it?"

"Hm? Do you really want to know?"

A smidge of a smile moved Komaeda's lips as he said, "Yes?"

"Wait...does that mean no? But it was a question, right? So then it means...yes? Maybe?"

Komaeda lightly laughed silently at Hajime's confusion. The spiky haired student rolled his eyes. "Ah, I see...you're just teasing me again. Fine, I won't tell you."

The other student snatched his hand back, bringing it to his chest.

Hajime couldn't believe it. "Are...are you blackmailing me right now? Really?"

Komaeda just kept his hand away, the lights in his eyes dancing.

"I-I'll tell you, then. So just, uhhh..." He opened his hand, laying it on the bed, waiting for Komaeda to put his back, and when he did he continued, "Well, I was just wondering...if you'd agree with me right now."

"About what?"

"That you are important."

"Of course I am." His eyes widened as his mouth shut.

Hajime stood up. "There, that's all...you don't need to say anything more. I'm going to check on the girls, but I'll be back, okay?"

Komaeda refused to look at him, instead staring out the window, not saying anything. Hajime sighed and left the room. _Yeah, that was probably too much...but I think it was still worth it..._

He walked to Mioda's room, and knocked on the door, then entered the empty room. _Huh? She's not here...could she be in the lobby?_

He checked the lobby, but she wasn't there. _Wait, what...? The transmission camera's light started blinking even though it's not the meeting time yet...That means...is someone calling? It might be urgent..._

He went to the monitor, pressing the reception button, and an incomprehensible image appeared on the screen. _...Huh? A black curtain, a step ladder from the music venue...and a noose?! What?!_

The lights swayed back and forth, as if lit by dim candlelight, giving the scene a ritual-like atmosphere.

"Wh-What is this?!"

And that was when she appeared. Crawling from the right, dressed in a hospital gown, with a Monomi tote bag covering her face and hair.

_Who...Who is that?! I don't like this at all...!_

She jerked and stumbled forward, climbing the step ladder, grasping the noose, and then---

The lights cut out, and the video stopped.

_Are...are you kidding me?! What?!_

_Was...was that Mioda?! If so, then...where was she?! The ladder's from the venue, but the curtain...that looked like the conference room upstairs!_

Hajime forced his feet to move, running through the hallway as Monokuma's morning announcement blared. He sprinted up the stairs, turning the corner at full force as he burst through the conference room door, but--- _She's not here?! Was I wrong...? But the ladder's here..._

He rushed out, checking the on-call room for Tsumiki, but no one was there either. _Th-This is bad, Mioda must be in the music venue...Please let me make it in time!_

He bolted out of the hospital, to the concert hall, and opened the doors and saw...!

_That's...that's Mioda...hanging...No...was I too late...?_

The hot air wafting from the room burned his skin, watering his eyes, but he pushed through and ran to the stage, her body slightly turning from the rush of air streaming in, and Hajime stood on the ladder, checking her pulse, but--- _No! No, she's not...she can't be! It hasn't been that long; there wasn't an announcement...wait...it needs three or more people. This...I need to hurry...and let the others know...!_

He raced to the motel in a blur, catching Tanaka and Nanami outside. She went with him back to the music venue, meeting with Tsumiki and Kuzuryu.

"A-Ah, Hinata!"

"Tsumiki? Where have you been?"

"P-Perfect timing! Please help us! We're looking for Mioda, she's gone missing..."

"You...were looking for her?"

"Um...I was planning to rest in the on-call room...but I wanted to check on everyone before I did that...A-And...Mioda's missing from the hospital all of a sudden..."

Hajime grimaced. "Let's hurry..."

Without waiting, he continued to sprint to the music venue, opening its doors, except they wouldn't budge. _What...? It's locked now..._

"Th-This doesn't make sense...I was able to go through here just a few minutes ago..."

Kuzuryu yelled, "If it won't open, the only thing we can do is force our way through."

The students charged at the door, creaking it open on the second run, bursting into the room as Tsumiki screamed. Inside, there wasn't just one body, but two. Saionji was strapped to a pillar, blood staining her neck. Two body discovery announcements played, and Hajime bit his cheek as the other students wailed again. "Saionji's body wasn't here when I checked...I only saw that hanged body over there...Not even ten minutes passed...but still, why?"

On Monomi's suggestion, Kuzuryu went to the control panel for the stage and lowered Mioda's body. Nanami removed the hemp bag and any uncertainty regarding the victim. Mioda was dead.

Monokuma soon arrived with the rest of the healthy students who all flinched back at the horrid scene. But then the door opened and Owari and Komaeda entered, wearing their regular clothes. The curly haired student clenched his fists and said, "Looks like another serious incident occurred while I was unaware."

"K-Komaeda? Owari? Are you guys okay?" Hajime moved to the other student, checking him over for signs of illness. _Wait...what did he just say? That sounded like...the truth...?_

"Huh? Of course." Komaeda left to the stage, climbing up with no difficulty.

_He does seem vastly more healthier than when I saw him moments ago...I guess he's completely cured now? Or is he just faking it...?_

Monokuma piped in, declaring that the Despair Disease was over since he got bored, and there was no need for a motive now that a killing occurred. He soon handed everyone the Monokuma file, and left. Hajime glanced at it, Saionji's cause of death obvious, but Mioda's was...interesting. _She had a crushed windpipe as a result of...choking?! Was that a deliberate choice or did the bear actually mean she was strangled, and thus died from both a lack of blood and oxygen flowing to her head...?_

Nanami mentioned the weirdness about two people dying; the murderer leaving more clues for them all to find, and Hajime nodded. "I agree. There was probably a reason that the killer had to kill both of them..."

She brought her hood up, looking down. "Regardless, something like this shouldn't be forgiven...so...I will definitely find the truth behind this case, at least...that's what I think."

Hajime went to examine the bodies on the stage. He noticed broken parts of a camera on the floor, something that wasn't there when he first checked Mioda. _That means...the killer must've been here or near here, and went in and changed the scene after I left..._

Nanami joined him, and she pointed out the bloodstain on the left side of the step ladder. He also touched the candle's wick, but it was cold. _Those are more details that prove that...I didn't see the music venue this morning on the camera..._

He went to Saionji's body, noting her disheveled kimono and backwards sash.

"Ah, Hinata! Do you have a minute?"

"Komaeda?" He exhaled, facing the other student. "What is it? I need to go back to Mioda, so if it won't take long..."

He walked towards Hajime, then past him to where Saionji died. "W-Well, I don't want to get in your way at all, but I do need your help with something."

"Help?"

"If you look closely..." He pointed to Saionji's kimono. "There's an unnatural shape bulging from inside her dress. So...I was thinking she might be hiding something..."

"So you want me to search inside? Why can't you do it?"

_Is he still feeling ill, or something?_

"Even though she's dead, I doubt she would want someone like me touching her, so...I-If you don't want to do it, I'll just have to ask someone else."

Before Hajime could respond, he called Owari over, and she searched Saionji, pulling out a key to her motel room. Komaeda looked back at Hajime and said, "If her key was so deep inside her kimono that it'd be hard to remove, then it's very unlikely that the killer tampered with this evidence. Because if this is a trap, they would've put it more toward the front of her kimono so we'd notice it easier."

"Then you're saying that Saionji had this with her all along..."

"Yep. Ah, also...it's not like I'm adding to that or anything...but you looked like you were curious about the condition of her body, right?"

"Yeah, it seems weird for the killer to suspend her like this."

Komaeda moved towards the top line of duct tape wrapping Saionji's body. "It's almost like they were trying to hide the wound on her neck, don't you think?"

"...I can see that, but why? I mean, we would obviously know about that wound because of the Monokuma file."

"Then that may not have been their true intention, but regardless, it's still a big help for our investigation."

Hajime's head tilted a bit, and Komaeda added, "The reason for the low volume of blood is because the duct tape is acting as a compress, right?"

_...!_

"You're right! There should be a lot more blood here if her throat was slit like that. Then, that means she was either killed somewhere else and brought here, or the killer used the tape as a compress, like you said. And they did that..." Hajime scrunched his hand in thought. _The only reason why was..._ "So that I would only see Mioda's body when I first ran here..."

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, right. You were still at the hospital...When I left you this morning, I checked on Mioda but she wasn't in her room. I looked for her in the lobby, and that's when I noticed the transmission light blinking, despite it being too early. I answered the call and on the screen was a figure in a hospital gown, walking up a step ladder like the one here. She put the noose over her head, but then the screen went black, and the video cut out."

Komaeda grasped Hajime's shoulder. "Hinata, this is very important. Do you remember anything else about that video?"

"Well, yeah. The curtains on the screen were black like the ones here, but the ladder was clean--no bloodstains on it, and the video was lit only by candlelight. After it cut out, I immediately ran to the conference room since I thought that was the most likely place for Mioda to be, but...when I got there, it was empty. The curtains were open, no candle, either...but there was a ladder there. I ran to the music venue next, and..." He sighed. "I saw her hanging up here, but..." He pointed to the scraps on the floor. "Only the pink monitor was broken, and Saionji wasn't here."

"Then you ran out to get the others...and came back to this?"

Hajime nodded. "...Exactly."

"I see...this definitely clears up a lot." He glanced to Tsumiki hovering over the other corpse. "Why don't we investigate Mioda's body now?"

"Okay." They moved to Mioda, noting the bloody soles of her slippers, checking the ill-fitting curtain behind her. Komaeda brought the rope, and Hajime compared it to her wound. _As I thought, the mark is different..._

He looked into Komaeda's eyes, and the other student nodded and turned to Tsumiki and asked, "Excuse me, Tsumiki? Do you have a moment?"

"U-Um...what's happened?" Tsumiki's mouth wavered, and her whole body was hunched over.

"There's something I want to ask you...There's no doubt that Mioda's cause of death was being hanged by this rope, right?"

"Y-Yes..." She gestured to Mioda's body. "She had no other external injuries, so there's no doubt she died from hanging herself."

_...!_

"I see, I see...So Mioda died by hanging herself..." Komaeda smiled and added, "You're right, yep, I got it! So then this rope won't be much of a clue after all. I might as well search another place."

Hajime said, "There's probably clues in the storage room, want to head over there?"

"Sure."

They walked there, pausing to examine the strip of wallpaper Tanaka grabbed from the top of Saionji's pillar, and the abnormally hot A/C unit. Once the door was closed, Hajime turned to Komaeda. "You're thinking what I'm thinking, right?"

He glanced away in thought. "...There's no way Mioda died from a hanging..."

"Yeah, the file said she died from choking, and based on the length and height of her noose, if she choked to death, not only would I have had found her in time, but the marks on her neck would've been higher, and lighter where the knot would be..."

"No, that's not entirely it." Komaeda rested his elbow in his palm. "I doubt you would've been able to save her even if she was hanged..."

"You mean the blistering heat in here? Yeah, I think that was done to mess with the time of death. Which means...the figure that I saw...they didn't have their hair down. There's no reason for it not to be down, unless the person I saw wasn't Mioda..."

Komaeda sighed, looking towards the door. "You were right, what you saw wasn't the music venue, but probably the conference room..."

"But I still don't understand why they had to hide Saionji's death too, unless you think that they wanted both deaths to seem like they recently happened?"

"Yep, that seems the most likely reason. Thus, they could establish their alibi, and also easily pin the crime on you, Hinata."

"Wh-What?! How?!" _Would they really do that?_

"Well, you don't really have an alibi...I mean, no one's going to trust _my_ word, so...You're also the only one who claims to have seen this video and the scene of the crime before it was like this...it's pretty suspicious."

Hajime stepped back. "Y-You don't believe...?"

"Of course not. There's an obvious reason why you couldn't have done it, one only you, I, and Monokuma know about."

"...What is it?"

An evil smile snaked onto Komaeda's mouth. "Hmm...it may be better to just show you...follow me..."

Wary, Hajime followed him out of the venue, noting the broken drumstick and glue on the door frame, and they walked to the cinema.

"N-No...! Please tell me you don't mean..."

Komaeda smirked, and summoned Monokuma. The bear was gleeful as he said, "Puhuhu...And you said you didn't wanna watch it, but I knew you wanted to see it all along! If that's what tsundere Hinata looks like, then you're really a tough guy! Wahahahah! You were so devoted to being tsundere, you even brought the Monokuma Sticker for 1.5 million dollars!"

"Urgh, d-don't remind me!"

"Puhu! Here's your ticket to watch the movie! It's only effective today at this time, and everyone only gets one ticket per person, so this is your only chance to watch it for free!" The bear stamped it, then gave it to Hajime. "There, it's stamped so you won't be able to cheat."

_I'm getting the sudden urge to tear this thing apart..._

Komaeda glanced at him, still smiling. "I understand how you feel, Hinata...but I strongly recommend you keep that safe."

Hajime sighed. "Fine...I'll trust you on this..."

Monokuma left to prepare the film, and the boys examined the goods counter while waiting.

Looking over the counter, Hajime didn't find anything. "So that tote bag came from here..."

The bear popped back up, screeching, "Whoa there, were you interested in buying that bag? Well that's just tooo bad! It's already sold out!"

He glared at the bear. "Then, who'd you sell it to?"

"Stupid! There's no way I'd fall for that! There's no way I'd say something that'd reveal who the killer is!"

Crossing his arms, Komaeda stood smugly. "So the killer bought it?"

"Ah! AHHHHHHHH!"

Hajime added, "I remember you said there was only one because it was a limited item, right?"

The bear depressed. "Ah, um...it's more like it's limited to one person...when you buy one bag, you get another one for free!"

The boys glanced at each other as the bear continued spewing nonsense, before announcing that the preparations were complete.

Komaeda sing-songed, "Have fun, Hinata!"

Hajime entered the theater. "If this is payback, Komaeda, I will fiercely retaliate."

He sat down for a mind-boggling five minutes as he was subjected to the worst inanity. _I think my boredom died and left me completely emotionless, unable to even feel bored at the state of feeling bored...How did Komaeda manage this?!_

He exited the theater, sighing, crushing his mind with his hands. "Wh-Wha...?"

"Yeah, I know."

"How the hell did you recover from that?!"

Komaeda glanced aside. "There were...sufficient distractions..." He looked back at Hajime. "Anyway, you know now, right?"

"Yeah...it seems like the killer wanted to disguise the order of deaths by using the movie. Coupled with the blood stains on Mioda's slippers, we can probably conclude that Saionji was killed first, then Mioda."

"That's right. And there's only one person who could've done all this, or at least is completely suspicious..."

Hajime sighed again, not wanting to voice it, but knowing it all the same. "You mean Tsumiki, right?"

The other boy nodded. "She was incredibly suspicious this morning, wasn't she? Moreover, her autopsy report was blatantly wrong, plus there's no way Mioda could leave for so long without her noticing last night..."

"We'll just have to question her during the trial, and hope for the best." Hajime tilted his head a bit, and added, "Still, Komaeda...you're being extremely cooperative...almost like you aren't going to take the killer's side during the trial...?"

The other student grasped himself, and a new expression clouded his face, his eyes a subdued swirl, mouth grimacing. "That's because I cannot forgive this case, can't overlook it this time..."

"What, why?"

Komaeda paused and calmed. "That's not important right now, we need to confirm what you saw, and search the hospital."

"...Well, okay. Let's go."

They made their way back to the hospital, checking the conference room. The black curtains were thick enough to block all outside light, and the floor looked similar enough to the music venue's stage, but the step ladder Hajime initially saw was gone. "Huh? I know I saw one folded up here..."

"It may be hidden somewhere in this building. Regardless, I think we have enough evidence to suggest that this is the true location of the video you saw."

"And if that's correct...then Tsumiki is the only one who could've done it...but why? She healed you, she's a nurse! Why would she ever...?"

Komaeda remained silent, but said, "Let's check Saionji's room. We may be able to find out at least why she was in the venue last night..."

Hajime solemnly followed him out, and together they examined her room, listening to Sonia's account that Saionji probably went to the concert hall late at night in order to learn how to tie her kimono using the mirror there. Outside the motel, he glanced at Komaeda as the class trial announcement rang.

"It looks like Saionji's death...was probably unplanned."

Komaeda nodded as they walked to Monokuma Rock. "Yeah, seems like it."

Hajime lapsed into silence, mulling over his newfound conclusions, thinking in circles. He sighed, forcing himself to think of something else. "...Actually, Komaeda...you sure you're okay enough for this trial? I think I have some painkillers if you need them?"

_In fact...how much of the last few days does he remember?_

The other student, however, just increased his pace, saying, "There's no point in worrying, I'm completely fine now."

_Dammit, I can't tell if he's lying or not..._

At the rock, they joined the other students, all present except for Nidai, who wouldn't be joining them for this trial. No one thought he was dead, he couldn't be.

"More importantly..." Komaeda smiled at them. "It's best if we worry about ourselves for now. If 'something' happens here, every one of us except Nidai will die!"

_There's his 'optimism' again..._

Tsumiki backed away from him. "Wh-Wh-Why a-are you so excited about that...!?"

"Who knows? Maybe I'm just looking forward to seeing poetic justice prevail."

Hajime and Tanaka both blurted with different inflections, "What are you saying?"

"--fiend?"

Komaeda softly stared at both. "You'll find out soon enough..."

The escalator crumbled into existence, and as the students rose into the rock, Hajime's heart felt heavy as he counted his missing classmates. They entered the elevator and it slid downwards, groaning, drowning out all voices, except no one spoke anyway.

This time, the courtroom was shaped like an old castle with huge, malformed, weathered stones. Taking their assigned places, the students began the third trial.

* * *

Komaeda gestured to them all. "I don't mind starting the trial, but I don't really have a grasp of how this case played out..."

_Is that how he's going to do this...again...?_

The other student continued, biting out, "You know, cause I was asleep the whole time."

Owari agreed with Komaeda, and despite Soda's protests, Nanami asked Hajime to recount the morning's events, which he did while leaving his suspicions against Tsumiki out of it.

"Amazing!" Komaeda beamed at him. "That's such a heart-pounding story! And then what did you, Hinata?"

_If he continues like this, Nanami and I won't be the only ones sensing his sarcasm..._

Hajime described what he did after watching the video: running to the conference room, finding no sign of Mioda, sprinting to the music venue next, finding her, getting Nanami, meeting Tsumiki and Kuzuryu, discovering the bodies.

"So that's how the case played out. Thank you, I understood it very easily."

Hajime smiled for a second, sighing. Kuzuryu said, "So you checked the conference room first since you didn't know we've been having transmissions from the music venue." Hajime nodded, and the yakuza added, "Well, it's clear what the problem with this case is. When you left the venue, who---?"

"---Wait." Komaeda casually pointed up. "How do I know anything Hinata just said is true?"

_He just loves playing the villain, doesn't he?_

Komaeda continued, "Sorry, I'm only being impartial right now...And the story I heard is clearly suspicious." He stared at Hajime, back to smiling. "Hinata, if you're the only one who saw the hanging video and the first one to discover Mioda's body, then you could be lying as much as you want right now, right?"

"Oh? But why would I lie, Komaeda? I can't even think of a single reason why..."

_Crap, now I'm mimicking him too..._

He twirled his hand out. "Obviously, so you could make us ignore what might be an inconvenient truth for you."

"What?...Do you doubt me?"

"If you're not lying, I would like you to prove it. C'mon, try to prove it to me! Prove you're not the killer!"

_Oh, he's good. By deflecting like that, I can remove any doubt with my testimony just by proving that I didn't kill them._

"Unfortunately for you, there's no way I could've killed Mioda or Saionji."

Komaeda's eyes widened. "Huh? What do you mean?"

Hajime brandished the cinema ticket. "We can all agree that this was an imitation murder of Monokuma's stupid movie, The Wizard of Monomi. Well, there's no way I could've imitated it---"

Komaeda chuckled. "Of course you're not. I already knew that."

_Okay, seriously?! He's not even trying to hide it now. We should just give the closing argument already; why does he like to dance around like this so much?_

"Before the incident, Hinata had never watched that abominable video. His invitation ticket is proof of that. Each person only received one ticket, and they're marked with a stamp that shows the date and time." He glanced to the bear preening on the throne. "Isn't that right, Monokuma?"

"Yessiree! No mistakes there."

"Which means there's no way Hinata, who never saw the movie, could commit murders that copied it. Or..." He glanced around the room. "Did anyone tell him what happens in the movie? Of course, no one did, right?"

_Still, it's...nice, to have him defend me so thoroughly like this..._

Soda bombarded Komaeda with his flip-floppiness, and he retorted, "Well, since we're opening with Hinata's witness testimony, I thought we should solidify the foundation..." He flaunted his hands outwards. "It also provides a good warm up."

_But...there he goes again. His word choice really doesn't help other people understand him..._

The mechanic retaliated, "W-W-What the hell are you talkin' about? This ain't a game!"

"D-Don't get mad...I just think warming up is really important, especially since this isn't a game."

Nanami rolled her eyes. "What a waste of time...I knew it would turn out like this anyway."

_At least there's one other person who gets him..._

The students moved back to arguing about the case, Kuzuryu still adamant that the killer murdered Saionji in the interval between Hajime leaving and coming back to the venue. He accused Sonia or Soda of being the killer--the only ones without alibis during that time.

"That's wrong." Komaeda smirked. "After all, there's another person who doesn't have an alibi. You know...Nidai."

_Okay, that's the wrong way to point out the flaw in his argument._

The yakuza made a fist at him. "Anyway! If the killer was hiding inside the venue, buying time for the murder by locking the door, we should obviously doubt the people who don't have alibis!"

Hajime exhaled. "No, that isn't correct. Those doors were locked from the outside---the killer glued them shut before leaving."

Nanami agreed, confirming that the killer did that only to make them think that it was a locked room murder. She also pointed out that the broken drumstick was used as a red herring, further solidifying the case that Saionji died much earlier. Except, the rest of the students didn't take it that way, thinking the killer must've glued the doors and killed Saionji during those missing ten minutes, bickering among themselves as Hajime also tried not to roll his eyes.

Komaeda cut through with, "If they couldn't have done it while Hinata was away from the venue, then they must have done it earlier than that."

_Thank you._

The others questioned him, and Komaeda added, "It's possible that the body was just revealed when you guys got there, and Saionji was actually killed earlier. Of course, it wasn't revealed on its own. The killer did that, too." Pulling out the scrap of wallpaper Tanaka found, Komaeda stood confidently. "Here, I have proof."

_Huh, he's really being helpful this trial, or should I say impatient? He usually waits for someone to finish his sentences..._

Komaeda looked at the scrap in his hand. "...But just what is this scrap, anyway?"

_Oh, never mind, I spoke too soon._

Hajime said, "It's a part of the wallpaper in the storage room. We found a roll of black paper there, which had a torn corner."

He brought out an image of the leftover wallpaper. "You're right, if you overlay this scrap with the tear in the wallpaper...See, it fits perfectly!"

Sonia wondered about it, as Owari scoffed. "And what's wrong with that? Does it have somethin' to do with Saionji's body disappearin'?"

"A mere nobody like me isn't important enough to answer that..."

Hajime's nails scratched his palms. _Is...is that really why he does this? No, I can't believe that's the only reason..._

Komaeda spread his arms wide. "But if you guys were exceptional enough to identify that scrap of paper, you can figure this out easily!"

_Dammit, I've had enough of this._

"No. That's not it."

"Huh, Hinata?...What?"

"You aren't less important than any of us. In fact, you are the only one here who can answer how Saionji 'disappeared'." He glanced at Nanami, hoping that she would play along.

Komaeda frowned, glaring at Hajime, remaining silent as the students voiced improbable and impossible ways for Saionji's body to vanish, Hajime and Nanami both refusing to declare the obvious.

_What are you going to do now, Komaeda? This trial isn't going to continue on track for much longer..._

Tanaka flourished his hamsters as his scarves danced behind him. "Fuhahaha! I've got it! The ancient oracle from the nine rings of Hell granted the killer with the power of Persephone. They must've used a blood sacrifice to turn her body invisible!"

Owari slammed the stands. "Th-There's no way that's true!"

Sonia countered, "No, that sounds exactly like what I saw in the popular drama, 'Gaba Kawa!'"

"Enough. Fine." Komaeda harshly brushed his bangs back, still glaring at Hajime. "She obviously didn't disappear, she was hidden from the start." He glanced angrily away. "The killer used the wallpaper to cover her up completely by wrapping it around the pillar. That one was slightly larger than the other pillar, wasn't it Hinata?"

"That's right. When I first saw Mioda's body, the pillar concealing Saionji was much wider than the other. Of course, I was too preoccupied with Mioda to worry about it at the time."

Sonia gracefully tilted her head. "So they used the baton lighting on the ceiling to hang the wallpaper?"

Komaeda said, "Yep, the baton lighting forms a perfect circle around the pillar, so using it to hang the wallpaper totally fits, plus that's where we found this scrap. That's also why it's covered in so many stickers--to make it look like the other pillar." He stared right back at Hajime. "There...happy now?"

"Actually, yes."

Nanami sighed at their nonsense, and added, "But the killer made a mistake by accidentally ripping off a piece of the wallpaper."

Komaeda nodded. "They must've been in a hurry. If their plan took too long, Hinata could've walked in on them."

Breaking her silence, Tsumiki said, "B-But going to the trouble of hiding the b-body, and the pillar is very bold...and risky..."

Touching his chin, Komaeda added, "But the crime itself would be much easier to pull off since they don't have much to do while Hinata's gone. They just have to peel off that wallpaper and stash it in the storage room...It's not that big of a deal."

Kuzuryu glanced down at his fists clutching against the stands. "But...then when was Saionji actually killed...?"

"Good point. And on that note..." He went back to smiling again. "It's about time we shed some light on those imitation murders."

The students recounted the movie, asserting that Mioda was killed like the first victim, the scarecrow, and Saionji like the second, the lion. 

Komaeda folded his arms, leaning against the stands. "Based on what we know, the reason the killer chose these imitations isn't that difficult to figure out."

Hajime quickly glanced at Nanami, noticing her slight nod, before he turned to Komaeda and replied, "Then tell us why," implying the _'Or else.'_

"You...you're really going to make _me_ say it? My worthless, despicable, base, insignificant self?!" Komaeda gripped himself hard. "No...I won't. I'm too unworthy...!"

Hajime scoffed. "Really, Komaeda? You know we already know the answer, so there's no harm in you saying it, right?"

"Tch!" He bit his thumb, looking down. "Just for this trial...I'll allow it, Hinata." He glanced back up, pointing. "But I'm not doing this for any other one! No matter what."

"Alright, I'll accept those terms for now." Hajime brandished his left hand forward. "Now, you were about to enlighten us all on the reason for the imitation murder?"

Komaeda narrowed his eyes at him. "Well, obviously to mix up the order of deaths. Unlike the movie, Saionji was actually killed before Mioda."

Nanami added, "Yeah, I agree. The condition of her body suggests that as well."

Crossing his arms Tanaka bit back, "Hmph...If you're going to cry and beg like that, then I'll guess I'll hear about the condition of Mioda's body..."

"...I'm not even crying."

I'll let you sob as much as you want later! Just hurry up and tell me before I change my mind!

Soda mocked, "What a jeerk."

"Oh I see." Nanami caught the bottom of her fist with her palm. "You want me to explain it to you, right? Because you don't understand what I'm saying, right?"

Tanaka flinched back. "A-An even bigger jerk?! Impossible!"

She added, "...Look, Mioda died because of a hanging, right? That means when she was still alive, her feet were still touching the floor. Since there were bloodstains on her slippers, that would mean she was standing when Saionji was killed, thus...Saionji was killed before Mioda."

"Kehehe...How light. Your words are so light, as light as the slyph's feather...Fuhaha! Your opponent is out of your league. It is too absurd to try to perplex me so inadequately!"

Before the trial spun out of control again, Komaeda asserted, "Sorry Tanaka, but that blood belonged to Saionji. Mioda had no external injuries, and no one else but Saionji was cut that badly."

"Fool! You also want to trick me like the foul Mephisto! I see your lies. Begone wicked beast, my Four Dark Devas of Destruction rend you asunder!" His hamsters shambled out from his scarf, hissing.

Soda dragged his hand over his face. "Urgh, just speak normal, man!"

"Fine. You say that there's no one else with a wound that deep, but that's a lie!" Tanaka pointed directly at Hajime. "Here's one being with a similar cut!"

Hajime stepped back. "Wh-Wha...?"

_Oh, he must mean my arm..._

Komaeda further buried his fingers into his arms, glaring elsewhere, shivering. "Th-That's...that was done days before..."

Kuzuryu and Tsumiki piped up, agreeing with him. Nanami finally pointed out the suspicious bloodstain that was ineffectively wiped away next to Saionji's body, removing any doubt that Mioda stepped in Saionji's blood, and thus was killed after the dancer. She also indicated that the duct tape was used to hide her bleeding, and Soda questioned the venue's heater--the sweltering air used to screw with Tsumiki's autopsy report.

The nurse squealed, "Th-That's right! I didn't know the time of death because of the heater!"

Sonia graced the students with her voice. "Now then, let us resume our debate..."

"Ah, wait a sec." Komaeda glanced to the bear again. "There's something I want to run by Monokuma first...Hey, if the victim actually committed suicide, what are we supposed to do?"

_That's a good point...though not relevant to this case..._

"The same as always! You have to vote for who the killer is...though unfortunately, that means there's no blackened. I'll just have to punish Monomi instead!"

The princess tilted her head. "Um...Komaeda? What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean, I understand Saionji's death, but I'm wondering if Mioda was really murdered. For example, it's possible Mioda killed Saionji, and then committed suicide due to a guilty conscience, right? Especially since she was afflicted by the Despair Disease, remember? That means anything can happen..."

Hajime sighed. _I guess this is an effective way of making sure everyone understands...slowly chipping away at improbable scenarios until we are left with only the truth._

Nanami clutched her backpack. "But if Mioda's the killer, she wouldn't have been able to falsify the sequence of murders, right? The killer had to be alive to reveal Saionji's body."

Komaeda smiled. "Then she was alive!"

_What?! Man, his baits...are really absurd and interesting._

"When Hinata discovered Mioda, she was just pretending to be dead. If she waited until Hinata left, that's when she could've made her move and messed with the crime scene."

The gamer quietly retorted, "She hanged herself, remember? If she was going to fake her death, I think...she wouldn't have chosen hanging...Her body was completely defenseless in that state, if anyone touched her, it would've ruined her plan."

"Hmm, I see...so that means..." Komaeda leaned on the stand, facing Hajime again. "There's no doubt that someone killed those two. I'm glad. Now I'm free to search for the killer. Ah, but there's still one more issue on my mind..." He rested his elbow on his palm and remarked, "If Mioda didn't commit suicide, then just what was that video Hinata saw? Mioda was by herself when she climbed the stepladder, right?"

Hajime nodded. _We're finally getting to the crux of it._

Komaeda continued, "Then does that mean...someone forced her to do it? Or..."

Before Hajime could append to that, Tsumiki uttered, "Then maybe we should figure out who was able to do something to Mioda?"

The students agreed that since the video was live, whoever didn't have an alibi before the morning announcement was highly suspect.

"Hm..." Komaeda rose his voice above the others. "So Mioda hanged herself right before Monokuma's announcement...And since we established Saionji was killed before her, that means the time that the murders occurred was before and during the announcement."

_One step forward, two steps back..._

Tsumiki clasped her hands together and responded, "Th-Then we just have to find the person who doesn't have an alibi during that time...?"

_Ah, I see...he's trying to draw her out...Then, let me do that too..._

Sonia countered that everyone was sleeping before the announcement, thus no one had an alibi.

"No, that's wrong." Hajime glanced at her, before staring only at Komaeda. "Up until I saw that hanging video, Tsumiki and I were actually together for a while. She---"

Tsumiki blurted, "W-We even woke up together that morning!"

Hajime forgot to speak as he saw Komaeda flinch back, stunned.

"Hey Hey Hey!" Soda pointed at her. "Wh-What kinda situation is that?!"

"Hehe! I accidentally fell asleep on top of Hinata..."

Nanami stared with dead eyes. "...Too much info."

"I-It's not like that!" Hajime protested. "She just came to tell me that your condition improved, Komaeda. That's all it was."

The other boy slightly relaxed, glancing back at him, and nodded once.

_Good..._

Tsumiki asserted that she was with Hajime until right before the announcement, and the students knocked her out of consideration, at least, for now.

Komaeda murmured, "...But, committing an imitation murder...? Is that really all it was? Faking the time the crime occurred by falsifying the murder sequence, hiding their alibi in the process, was that the only reason the killer made both bodies imitate the movie?"

Hajime wondered if he should play along or just say the answer. He decided he wanted to see how far Komaeda would go with it, so he said, "Are you saying...there was another reason?"

"I feel really bad for confusing you guys so much, but that's how I feel. I think the killer had a completely different reason for falsifying the murder sequence."

"Care to tell us what that reason is?"

"Nope! Not yet." Komaeda smiled and remained silent, basking in the other student's confused looks. After a few minutes of no one else speaking, he said, "...Huh? It suddenly got really quiet in here." He glanced down at his open palm. "Did I confuse you all? If so, I wish I could die from self-loathing..."

Hajime was going to counter that, but he noticed a glint in Komaeda's eyes, and stopped himself, and the other boy added, "If that's the case, it would've been just dandy if they had gone ahead and killed me too. I mean, if that happened, the imitation would've been perfect. So why didn't they do that?"

Monokuma screeched, "Well, it's against the rules to kill three people in the first place!"

"That rule is too harsh. I couldn't get killed because of that..."

"Seriously just shut up already!" Soda blasted at him. "Shut up forever!"

"..." Komaeda clamped his mouth shut as Hajime glared at Soda.

Nanami ignored them all, and brought the trial back on track. "Wait, he's totally right, it does feel incomplete. About the lion that got killed second in the movie...even though we're calling it an imitation, the lion was actually pinned by arrows, right? But Saionji's body was suspended by common household duct tape. So even though arrows are hard to find, if the killer really wanted to falsify the murder sequence, then they should've taken steps to properly imitate it."

Tanaka scowled. "What are you trying to say? Are you saying the imitation wasn't planned?"

"I'm saying...Saionji's murder wasn't."

_Yes, thank you Nanami!_

She went on, despite Tsumiki's protests, to point out the other strange details involving her death, like why she was at the venue in the first place.

"That's right." Hajime glanced at Sonia. "It's like you said before, Sonia. Saionji went to the venue of her own free will in order to use the full-length mirror there. We know that because of her room key that was hidden inside her kimono."

Around the room, after Sonia described her conversation with the dancer, each student concurred with Hajime, finally realizing that her death was unplanned--an unfortunate accident for Saionji, who probably witnessed the killer setting up Mioda's murder.

Hajime added, "That's the reason the killer imitated the movie, to make it look like both murders were planned."

"Then what was the killer actually planning to do?" Nanami pulled her hood up. "They've been cunning this far, there's no way they'd kill Mioda without a plan..."

Hajime smirked. "Hey Komaeda, any ideas?"

Komaeda just continued to stare at Hajime, utterly silent.

He sighed. "Please ignore everything Soda has said to you." 

"Ah, so I can speak now? That makes me so happy I'm getting goosebumps! To think you all actually need so much help from scum like me!"

_Heh, so that's how he's justifying it now..._

Leaning against the stand, Komaeda continued, "I was thinking about it while I had my mouth shut, but now I'm finally able to come to a conclusion." He brought a fist up in emphasis. "Mioda definitely didn't commit suicide! I thought there might be a possibility that she faked her death and tampered with the crime scene, but now I remember the blood on her slippers! So if she faked her death and walked around the music venue, tampering with the crime scene, there'd be bloody footprints left in various places throughout the venue." His eyes spiraled again, despair creeping into their centers. "So that's why I think there's no way she faked her death! There's no way Mioda committed suicide!"

Kuzuryu slammed the stands. "You know, we already finished talking about that a while ago."

"Huh? Really?" Komaeda's eyes widened, before he sighed. "That's annoying. I guess I should just awkwardly laugh about it then...Heh...heh...heh heh..."

"What he means to say is that it's impossible for Mioda to have hanged herself." Hajime gestured to the center of the room, where he brought out an image of the stepladder. "The stepladder there had no footprints or stains on its steps at all, so she couldn't have used it to commit suicide."

Komaeda beamed at him. "Y-You noticed such a small detail, how amazing! This is truly the talent of a chosen Ultimate!"

_He's totally being sarcastic again..._

Hajime pushed back his hair. "Well, then Komaeda, since you're also an Ultimate, why don't you prove it and tell us why this detail's important?"

"That's so obvious even someone as stupid as me can answer that. For starters, it clearly contradicts what you saw in the video, right?"

"Yeah, Mioda couldn't have used that ladder either, which means the person I saw in that video wasn't Mioda."

Voices bashed against each other around the room, before Komaeda asserted, "There's another huge reason why you couldn't have seen Mioda, right?"

Hajime nodded. "The step ladder in the venue does have bloodstains on it, just not on the steps. If we look to the left side, we can see blood on its rails. But the ladder in the video I saw was completely clean."

"That is truly strange..." Komaeda thought aloud. "And there's no way the video was recorded in advance. If that's the case, the only thing I can think of is---"

Nanami interjected, "That there were two stepladders. We didn't find another in the music venue, so the other one must be somewhere else."

Komaeda opened his arms. "You're suggesting...that the stepladder in the video isn't the only thing that's different. Am I right? That's amazing, Nanami! All that gaming has given you incredible deduction skills...Is it okay to say that?"

She nodded cautiously. "Yeah...I think the location must be different, too..."

Hajime added, "Right, I think my original guess was correct--the video took place in the conference room at the hospital. After filming, the figure in the video must have hidden themselves...In my rush to find Mioda, I just assumed I was wrong, and didn't search that thoroughly for them..."

"Wait-Wait-Wait!" Soda pointed at Hajime. "That's not possible! The monitor and camera were both at the venue. That was the only other place within range of their signal, and there's no way for the killer to use another device!"

Komaeda sighed. "They only needed to bring the security camera with them to the hospital. That also corroborates with what you saw, right Hinata?"

"Exactly, the smashed camera wasn't originally there when I went to the venue, only the broken monitor."

"And the moment you left the venue, the killer put back the camera they took, destroying it as well."

"Since the devices have such a limited range, the only other possible location for it is the hospital. Plus, the black curtains and the floorboards in the conference room are similar to the venue's stage."

"No, that's not it." Komaeda replied, "It's the other way around, Hinata."

"Oh! Right, the curtains were changed in the venue to match the ones in the conference room. That's why they're black, and don't fit the stage well. In fact, we can clearly see that they're from the supermarket."

"And that's not all, right?"

"Yeah, they also used a candle for lighting, to further obscure the video. I mean, if it was in the music venue, then they should've just used the lights there. Plus, the candle that was at the venue was cold to the touch--there's no way it was used recently."

"They did that also since the lighting in both locations are so different from each other."

Nanami brought her hood up again. "But then...if it wasn't Mioda...who was in the video, instead?"

Komaeda glanced at her. "It could only be the killer pretending to be Mioda, of course. They put on a hospital gown, and wore a hemp bag on their head." He looked at Hajime for confirmation. "By the time you saw them, the real Mioda must've already been killed."

She added, "So the actual time of death...must've been probably around midnight or dawn to avoid witnesses. There's no way it happened during the day..."

"Yep." Komaeda said, "They wanted to make us believe the murders happened much sooner so that they could establish their alibi."

Hajime inhaled, letting it out slowly. "Yeah...and the only one here who could've done it..." He stared at the girl, pointing. "Tsumiki, you're the killer, aren't you?"

"...Eeeek! W-What are you talking about? K-Killer...h-huh?" She began crying. "Haah? I-I'm the killer...? Wh-What is this!? A clumsy, slowpoke like me killing someone? Th-That's completely out of the question!"

"No, it isn't. We're the only ones with alibis before Monokuma's announcement. And you're the only one who could've filmed that video in the hospital. In the morning, you said you were going to the on-call room, but you actually went to the conference room. That's when you put on a hospital gown that you prepared in advance, put the bag on your head, and began filming."

She grabbed her hair, pulling. "Hah, wa...ha-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa..."

"Furthermore, after I saw the video, I immediately checked for any sign of Mioda upstairs, and you weren't in the on-call room...or were you? Not sleeping, of course, but hiding there, waiting until I left so you could clean up the conference room. And no one outside could've been in the hospital without one of us noticing. Or was there someone else? They had to have hidden their supplies in the on-call room, which means you should know who the killer is, right?"

"A-Ah! U-umm....A-Ahhh..."

"Of course you don't, cause you're the real killer."

Komaeda smiled. "That's right. I mean, Owari and I were both delirious from the Despair Disease, so neither of us could be the killer, either."

"P-Please wait a second! Wh-What are you saying...!? I-I'm the killer?! That's impossible! Th-There's no way I could kill someone!"

Komaeda derided, "It's not literally impossible. Can't you give a better defense than that?"

"W-Wrong...I-It's totally wrong...It's not what you think!" She turned to Hajime, eyes wet. "Nnnnh...D-Do you...hate me-- _hic_ \--that much, Hinata...?"

Spiraling, twisting dark swirls coiled in Komaeda's eyes as he spread his arms apart and retorted, "Ah, can you hold on a minute? Well, I know I'm being intrusive and all. And I mean, I have no place to say this...I missed all of the critical parts, and I doubt I have anything worth saying at an important time like this..."

Hajime sighed and turned to him. "Komaeda, the only reason we could've come this far is because of you."

The other student completely ignored that, glaring at Tsumiki, treating her worse than dirt. "But still, there's definitely no way I can overlook the killer this time. I thought it was suspicious all along. From the very beginning...investigating with a suspect in mind creates a different result than investigating with no leads..." He chuckled. "Well, thanks to that, I was able to discover a truth that nobody else knows."

_Is this what he's been alluding to?_

Komaeda stared at Hajime. "I've been so focused on everybody else this trial, but I guess now's a good time to say it, right? Well, it's nothing big, really. Only a small, decisive clue that points to the real killer. Let's take a look, shall we...?" He displayed the rope used to kill Mioda.

_Wait...what?_

"This rope was supplied by the supermarket, right? There weren't any ropes inside the music venue. If they got it at there, that means it was brand-new right?"

_Did he find another clue about the rope...?_

"I want you to take a close look at this rope, and keep in mind that it's brand-new. Near the middle of the rope...It's frayed, as if it was rubbed strongly."

_...!_

_Right, I was so focused on the noose, I didn't check the rest of the rope...!_

Komaeda glanced down at the rope. "But why is it like this? The loop Mioda used to hang herself is on one end of the rope, and the part of the rope that hung from the baton lighting is on the other end."

Hajime gasped. "Wait...then that means...?!"

"Yep. The killer wrapped the rope around Mioda's neck, pulled both ends at full strength, and strangled her. The center of the rope is frayed because that's the part they used to strangle Mioda."

"That fits exactly with the marks around Mioda's neck!"

Nanami tilted her head at Hajime. "Wait, what do you mean, Hinata?"

"The scars on Mioda's neck are too low for her to have died from choking by hanging, plus they completely wrap around her neck; there's no mark from the noose's knot. So she couldn't have hung herself."

She glanced between both students. "What you both said...it sounds like you guys knew it all along...probably..."

Hajime swallowed a bit. "W-Well, yeah..."

Komaeda turned to her. "Not everyone cooperates at a class trial. Those who lie and conceal the truth will obviously be here, too. Just like this case's killer! I was just copying them a little bit!"

"And you, Hinata?"

"I...I was waiting for the right time to bring it up...I thought it was more important to establish the other facts of the case first..."

_That's the only reason I did that...right...?_

She puffed her cheeks at him, before looking elsewhere.

_I...should probably apologize to her later..._

Soda pulled his beanie back. "More importantly, what was that about the rope? The killer strangled Mioda, and then?"

"And then..." Komaeda smirked. "I finished speaking."

Soda's face twisted in confusion. "Huuuuuhhhh!?"

_Sigh, not this again..._

Tsumiki grasped her hands together. "H-H-How is that a decisive clue?!"

"Hm? You didn't notice it?" Komaeda stood conceitedly. "I thought I made the decisive clue...very clear. So clear that even _you_ could've noticed, Tsumiki."

She took a step back. "Wh-What does that mean...?"

Hajime clutched the stand, looking at the nurse. "It means that we all fell for your trap. It was your autopsy report that unequivocally declared Tsumiki's cause of death to be from a hanging."

She gasped, averting her gaze. "Th-That is...well..."

Komaeda scoffed. "Just admit you lied. There's no way you can escape, now. It's better for you to just give up and accept your fate."

She covered her face, cringing. "Hah...! Ahhhhahhhhhaaah!"

The other student continued to glare at her. "You should've been able to tell the difference between hanging and strangling, just by looking. You, Tsumiki, the Ultimate Nurse..."

She tried to defend herself, saying that she wasn't a coroner and thus could've made a mistake, but Komaeda retaliated, "But even a drunk medical student can notice the difference between a hanging and strangulation."

Owari blasted, "No, there's no way I'm gonna doubt her, she cared for me and got me better!"

"Don't you think her devotion to nursing is what helped her draw Mioda to her death? I mean, her symptoms were still very serious, and caused her to believe what anybody told her...It wouldn't surprise me if she willingly followed Tsumiki _because_ she was nursing her."

Kuzuryu looked askance. "So you're sayin' she planned to do it all along? That's a little..." He stared back at Komaeda. "Aren't you like the thief who suspects everyone else of being thieves?"

"I'm not a criminal, Tsumiki is! She's a killer, you know?"

The nurse wiped her eyes. "You've got it all wrong! Please forgive me!"

"I'm sorry, but there's no way I can forgive you." Komaeda stepped away from her, disgusted by her presence. "I just can't forgive this crime at all."

_...!?_

_How is this one different from the others...?_

Sonia fidgeted with her dress. "Um, forgiveness or not...we still have not decided if Tsumiki is the killer..."

Komaeda sighed, looking down. "Hmmm, I see...you guys are kind...Well, if that's the choice everyone makes, then the only thing I can do is back off, I guess...But is that really okay? Is that everyone's hope?"

"No, it isn't." Hajime turned to the rest of the students, noting their looks of disbelief.

Owari spat out, "Y-You doubt your friends...?"

"That's not it." Hajime bluntly said, "I suspect them only because I want to believe in them!"

Nanami added, "Yeah...I don't think belief and doubt are necessarily opposites. I do doubt her...but I still want to believe her. Belief lies at the heart of that conflict. Cuz, if there's no room for doubt, then there's no reason to believe, is there?" She pressed against the stands, imploring, "If you want to believe in someone, you need to overcome doubt first. Belief without doubt...is simply a lie."

The students all subdued, Nanami's words clicking in their minds as the case against Tsumiki solidified in their hearts. But the nurse darkened, and monotoned, "Huh? Is that all you can say? Ah, so in the end...you're all just a bunch of bullies, huh? Justifying your actions with fancy words...M-Making excuses for why it's not really your fault..." Tears trickled down her face. "E-Everyone always treats me like that...Always... _Hic!_ 'It's all her fault...Sh-She's the one with the problem...'" Rage contorted her features as she pulled and pulled at her hair. "I-I'm done with that! You hear me?! I'm doooone!"

She glared at all of them. "It's not fair. It's not fair...not fair, not fair, notfair, notfair, notfairnotfairnotfairnotfair! Why won't you forgive me!? If you did something wrong, you'd forgive yourself right away...! What did I do?! Why won't anybody forgive me!?" 

Komaeda sneered. "Is acting like this your strategy now? Well, this is annoying. Plus, to be honest, I've run out of ideas. How can we get you to admit it? That's the issue."

Nanami offered, "If we don't have any clues, why don't we have her give us some? I'm the same as Hinata, I don't want to doubt any of my friends. But still, the truth is one of us murdered two of our friends. That's why, we gotta stick with this until the very end. So we can finally break these chains of despair."

_Nanami..._

"But Tsumiki," she looked at the nurse, "can I ask you one last thing? If you're not the killer, then who fabricated that video Hinata watched?"

"L-Like I said, it obviously wasn't me!"

"...Can you prove it?"

"P-Prove it?" She glared back. "Do you have any proof that _I'm_ the one who fabricated that video?" She wailed, "B-B-B-Because you're still just assuming the video was filmed at the conference room..! T-Treating me like a killer b-based on an assumption...J-Just because I was at the hospital...Th-That's totally crazy! I didn't do anything wrong!" She slammed the stands hard. "Why does everybody always hate me?! Please, just forgive me already! I-I-I-I'm not the killer! I never filmed th-th-th-th-that video! Why do you get to decide I'm the killer? Where's your proof!?"

Komaeda harshly pointed at her. "We can't think of anybody else other than you who could've filmed that video."

She derided, "Huh? Do you have any proof? Is the hemp bag on their head the proof? Is the hospital gown they were wearing suspicious? Or could it be the hospital slippers they had on?"

Kuzuryu blurted, "Mioda and Tsumiki clearly have different body types...!"

"Is that really your proof? You could tell their body type from under the hospital gown? Just from that video. Just from that dim candlelight? Just from that camera angle?" She screeched, "There's no way you'd be able to make out their body type!"

Hajime retorted, "Tsumiki...you have committed a major mistake. As I said before many times, I'm the only one who saw that video. But I...never said anything about the camera angle."

"Aaaaah!" She cringed, shielding her face with her fingers.

"So, how can you say anything about the camera angle as if you saw that video yourself!?"

"Heeeee...!" Her legs wobbled, and she crouched behind the barrister.

Komaeda added, "The only reason you knew the camera angle Hinata had seen is because you're the person who actually filmed that video. Isn't that right?"

Nanami asserted, "This is your just reward. The more desperately you argue, the deeper you dig yourself into a hole." She pointed directly at Tsumiki. "You lied, didn't you?"

"Guhhhhh!"

Owari clenched her fists, not believing. "Is it true, Tsumiki?! Did you...did you kill Saionji and Mioda?!"

"...Huh? Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh?" She giggled, slowly standing up straight. "Ah! I was wrong! Wrong! No, no...that's not it at all!" She softly jeered, "I mean, it's impooooosible! Try remembering that hemp bag Ibuki was wearing when she died...Diiiiiing, I totally remember now. That tote bag...Isn't it the same one that figure was wearing in the video? Did you know that bag is a limited item that was sold at the movie theater?"

She stared dead eyes at Hajime. "Hinata saw it too, right? You remember the Usami decal on it? Whoopsie, don't worry about it. I remember it even if you don't. Tadaaaaa! There's no mistake that that tote bag is a limited item!...So don't you think it's impossible? Using one tote bag in both the conference room and the music venue at the same time...? It's blatantly obvious that that's impossible, don't. You. Think!?" She smiled cutely at them all. "That's why that video isn't fabricated and I'm not the killer." She teared out her hair. "So. You'll. Forgive. Me. Right?!" She turned back to cuteness. "Will you forgive me? You'll forgive me, right? Isn't that right? You're obviously gonna forgive me, right?

Komaeda exhaled, crossing his arms arrogantly. "Taking your stubbornness this far...such despair. Have you forgotten that Monokuma offered two tote bags to his customer? That means it's not impossible for that bag to appear in two separate places. Just stop already. Your pathetic desperation is making me feel sick."

"Wh-Wh-Why...?" She gazed around the room, pleading. "Why can't you forgive me?!"

Tsumiki continued to wail, then screech, then curtsy, then jeer. But Hajime quieted her by delivering the closing argument, finally wrapping up the case, the votes cast, condemning the nurse. The students left the stands as Tsumiki started laughing and laughing, her body wobbled back and forth, shaking. "Haaaaa...It's been suuuuuch a long time. This feeling, I know it well. Like the floor is collapsing...like the sky is falling down upon you." She fiercely blushed. "...This feeling of despair!"

_Wh-What?!_

She continued to laugh, giggling at their grief and confusion. Komaeda tired from it. "There's nothing we can do. She's no longer the same person. She's...no longer the Tsumiki Mikan we knew."

Hajime blurted, "Huh?"

He walked to Hajime and continued, "Based on my predictions, she might've caught it, too. She probably had the Despair Disease, which was the motive for this case..."

"What?! How do you know that?"

"I know because I was looking at her for so long. She was the one taking care of me, after all."

_W-What?! Don't tell me she did something...?!_

A half-smile flickered on Komaeda's lips, before dissipating. "My consciousness kept drifting but even so, when I did catch a glimpse of her, her expression was..." He turned to her in scorn. "Full of despair. A despair so devoid of hope that not even a single fragment of it remained."

"But...but that means she was...!" Hajime bit his cheek. "She must've had a high fever when..."

"The symptoms that she surely felt must've been deserving of the name, Despair Disease. Losing all hope...and harboring despair for all hope...because of that disease, she was likely overcome with despair. That's the reason why she can still laugh in such a hopeless situation." He pushed his bangs back, scoffing, "Which means the Tsumiki standing before us is no longer the Ultimate Nurse. She's a completely different person now that she's infected by the Despair Disease." He lunged a finger in her direction. "She's a human who deserves to be called the Ultimate Despair!"

_Ultimate...Despair?! What?!_

He glanced back at Hajime. "That's the reason why...I cannot forgive this. I mean, killing someone for the sake of despair instead of for the sake of hope..." He clenched his fist and teeth. "There's no way I can forgive that."

"Oh?" The nurse stopped laughing. "For the sake of despair? Haha! That's completely wrong."

"Huh?...Wrong?" He huffed at her, "What's wrong?"

"What I did...was for the sake of my beloved. Hehe...If only they were still alive...They'd be so happy...I know." Sweat glistened across her skin, her eyes rolling upwards as tears and drool spilled. "My beloved...was the only one...That's right, the only one who never hated me. They forgave my existence. They forgave me and accepted me. They gave me value. They loved me. I loved them with all my heart and they returned it in full. This is...my reciprocation." She smiled at them, the tips of her fingers touching each other. "Uhheh! I understand that I've done something unforgivable. But you know, but you know! To transcend all that, is truly what love is about!"

Komaeda stared at her, still standing next to Hajime. "I don't understand...what you're saying."

"Huhuh. You don't understand? Is it because you don't have anyone to love? Is it because you're also someone who isn't accepted by anyone?" She sighed melancholically. "What a pity. I feel sorry for you."

He flinched back, eyes wide, darting to Hajime for a second, then moving elsewhere; waves of self-loathing permeating the air around him.

Still blushing darkly, Tsumiki continued, "Even if I say this...I'm sure nobody here would understand but...love is a wonderful thing. Ahhh, this feeling of freedom where you no longer care about anything! Hehehe! My beloved and I are the only ones within that this veil, and I'm just looking out through it...that's why as long as I'm on the inside, no matter how much they tease me, splash me with water, kick me...it's like nothing matters! I could just die, that's how little it matters! Ahh, how amazing. Who cares about hope or despair! It's love, only love!"

Komaeda stepped back to Hajime's side, a little more vulnerable than before. "It seems that...I was wrong. Not only was she affected by despair..."

"Haa-Aah. You were half right. It's right to say that this is all thanks to that disease. Because...thanks to that disease, I was able to remember my beloved."

Komaeda stared at Hajime as he uttered, "Re...member...?"

She nodded happily. "Apparently that's what my symptom was. Hahaheh...what a wonderful symptom..."

"So you had...the Remembering Disease?" Hajime asked.

Komaeda bit his lip. "But if this means she remembered something and ended up like this..." His fists clenched in denial. "Are you saying you were like this from the start? Were you like this before you even came to this island?"

"Whhhuh...D-Don't get angry...!" She giggled. "The reason I became like this wasn't my fault. It was all your fault, you know? Because...it's not like I'm entirely responsible for turning out like this. I'm the person I am today because of many human relationships. So..." She softly gazed around the room. "It's everybody's fault that I turned out like this, you see? Even so, the current me was most strongly influenced by my beloved's existence. And it was also my beloved who created the me that everyone can't forgive. But my beloved still forgives me and still accepts me...That is the key difference between all of you and my beloved." She began laughing and laughing and laughing.

The students hounded her with questions about her memories, before she finally spat out, "Then I'll tell you one tidbit! That World Ender you guys're so worried about...they're really called the Future Foundation! Hahahahahaheh!"

She accused Monomi of being part of them, part of the group that sent them to this island. Questions and accusations sprung up from the students as Tsumiki copied Monokuma's laugh, before Komaeda silenced them all as he retorted, "Don't laugh. If you really do remember...then you already know, right? You know the true identity of the traitor hiding among us."

"Ahaha! Of course I know that!" But she deflected, not telling them anything else. "I'm drowning in so much love...From the bottom of my heart, I just don't care about anyone or anything."

"Tsumiki! This isn't the real you." Hajime declared, "I-I won't believe it...Because if it's true, then who's the person we've been spending time with up until now!?"

"...The past. That person...she didn't exist in the beginning. She's just my past self who lost her school memories. Hahahahehehehe! You guys considered that thing a friend." She sighed. "That doesn't make me happy at all. It just fills me with despair. You guys accepted my past self, but not my present self..."

"Th-That's...!"

"Well, that applies to you as well. Memories of people...memories of events...Whatever memory it is, losing memories are like losing your personal identity. Memory is the most important component in building a person...don't you think?" She giggled. "Losing our memories makes us shadows of the past. Don't you think?"

Komaeda had enough of this bullshit. "I don't know what you're trying to say, but in the end, it always leads back to that story. That story about our stolen school lives..."

Desolate feelings arose in all the students as they realized the undeniable proof that they really did have their memories taken away. She soon asked Monokuma to begin her punishment, and the bear delivered, and she was gone.

Tanaka concealed his hamsters and hesitantly said, "Who was that Tsumiki...? Was that her true form? Or...is that itself a symptom of the disease?"

"...It doesn't matter either way." Komaeda scowled hard. "If she ended up like that just from 'remembering'...then all along, she was never worth being a Symbol of Hope. Even if her words were influenced by the disease, if it turned her into that..." He sighed, shaking his head. "No, if she lost herself to a simple disease, she was definitely unworthy of being a Symbol of Hope. So...lets's just move on. C'mon, let's take all this despair and change it into hope!"

Sonia grasped her hands together, pleading, "Th-That's impossible!"

_I...I can't do that...Tsumiki...I thought I knew her, I thought we were friends, but she...Did she only hate us in the end? Did her memories or that disease...did it really change how she thought so much? I can't...! I can't just believe that and move on...Not when she still used Mioda's first name...that must mean something, right...?_

Monokuma droned on about the traitor still being alive, then announced a 'special gift' waiting for them on the beach in first island. As the students rushed over, praying for Nidai's safe return, they carried the souls of their lost classmates with them, hoping for a grand reunion. Hajime couldn't have been more exhausted, but his body still felt light as he sprinted over. At the beach, they called for Nidai, searching for the missing student. But he wasn't there. And then he was.

"Gaaah-hahaha! What happened?! Were you all looking for me?"

They turned towards the voice, but what greeted them was...a metallic robot.

"...Huh? What the--?" Hajime stepped back.

The robot roared, declaring himself to be Nekomaru Nidai, reborn in the rivers of hell. Sonia screamed as Soda drooled. There was no way they could accept him, _no, not him, this is a thing...!_ Soda ran up to him, trying to take off his helmet so he could examine it, but it wouldn't come off. "HOLY CRAAAAAP! IT'S NOT JUST FOR SHOW!" The mechanic screeched back in horror. Nidai was a full android, running on pure electricity and oil. It was too easy to reject his nonsensical being, but Nidai's upbeat attitude slowly infected some of them, and those students decided to give him a small chance.

The robot smiled. "It's better to just be alive! If I'm alive, I can talk to you all. If I'm alive, I can still fight...It doesn't matter what happens to my body! Not one bit!"

_I...I can understand that, but...this is just too strange...can this really happen? No, instead...why did this happen?_

Monokuma appeared, bragging about his technological prowess that enabled him to build 'Nidai,' and Soda began drooling again, believing Nidai was a highly intelligent, self-aware AI. "Heyy! Can I disassemble you and look at your insides?!"

"NOOOOOO, THANK YOUUUU!" The robot roared.

"Puhuhuhu! Even though he's a robot now, if Nidai is killed, it's still going to count as murder~, okay?"

The bear shrieked, and left them stranded there in that absurd world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Hajime rushed to the conference room first since he never participated in the morning and evening transmissions with the other students, thus didn't know the other pair were in the music venue. Plus, he was looking for Mioda, and it's reasonable to assume she was still in the hospital. Anyway, look forward to chapter 4!


	5. Do Ultimate Robots dream of Clockwork?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Details chapter 4 of Danganronpa: Goodbye Despair. Goes over Komaeda's last two free time events in the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, this took forever, juggling writing and work and life is hard. So yeah, it's definitely going to be sporadic updates from now on, but the rest will be posted...once it gets written ;D
> 
> OMG BUT FINALLY CHAPTER 4!!!! This is my favorite trial, in terms of the murder. Other than the idiotic Octagon, it was great. Also, I just love the chapter's title.

Soda continued to hound Nidai about his hardware as the group walked back to the cabins. Hajime stayed behind, watching them retreat from the beach. His throat felt raw from the recent trial, and he squeezed it as his body sagged.

_That metal body he has...is there any flesh underneath? Or was he entirely replaced? He referred to himself as a robot, and so did Monokuma...but is that really true? Or is he the same Nidai, just encased in metal...?_

Komaeda was next to him, silently gazing at the students, until he said, "Nidai is so admirable...having two Ultimate talents now, it's exciting to think about how much more he can do!"

Hajime tried to speak, but winced, swallowing to soothe his throat. He slowly rasped out, "...You've already accepted him? Just like that? We don't even know if he's still human..."

"Hinata, you're thinking too small." The darkness quickly hid everyone else from view, clouds covered the moon as he turned to Hajime. "Even if there's not a single piece of who he was left in him, he's still Nidai."

"What, no..." His throat hurt more and he debated speaking, but he couldn't help himself, not when Komaeda _challenged_ him like this. "Th-That means he isn't the same, especially if Monokuma built him."

"If that's true, then none of us are the same people either."

_What...?_

"Just think on it a bit more." The other boy started walking into the night, and Hajime followed and yawned as Komaeda added, "I'm sure you'll come to see it in no time."

"Yeah, maybe..."

They both slowly dragged themselves away from the beach, kicking the cold sand around, but when they got to the bridge to central island, Komaeda stopped. He sighed, looking to the dusky colors of the bridge. "This is where we part ways..."

"Huh?" Hajime swallowed again and added, "You're not going back?"

"I've been asleep for too long, there's a lot I need to catch up on."

_...Catch up on what?_

On looking at Hajime's confusion, he smiled and added, "Well, I left a lot of unfinished books at the library..."

"Oh."

_What is he even reading in there...?_

Komaeda gripped his forearm, blurting, "You...you could come with me? That is, if you're not planning on sleeping again tonight..."

_...!_

"Of course I will."

The night air coalesced around them, blowing southward. Vague shouts from their distant classmates carried over, before muffling into soft noise. The trees only whispered as they strolled to the library, the leaves softly sighing the ocean breeze at them.

The towering building glowed in the dark sky, looking warm despite the sounds of the river surrounding it. Inside, the library was colored in candlelight, heating the air. Komaeda left to the upper floors as Hajime wandered towards the same old table near the back window.

He collapsed on a chair, staring at the lit chandelier, while Komaeda eventually returned and resumed reading.

_We...are we still the same people we were before? Because if we aren't, then that means Tsumiki...she wasn't the same anymore, she wasn't our friend in the end. But no, I can't accept that..._

Hajime snorted bitterly, and at Komaeda's gaze, he whispered, "It...it isn't fair how _fragile_ we are right now. I could just bang my head the wrong way, recover my memories, and then...I'd be someone different..."

"We're always someone different." Komaeda paused, then returned to his squarish book. "You can't believe you're still the same person from when we first got here, Hinata."

_He's right...I'm not..._

"But then that means it's pointless to say we're the same..."

"No." Komaeda flipped a page with a dimmed smile. "It means no matter how much you change, you're still you."

Hajime narrowed his eyes, rubbing his throat again. "...That's a contradiction."

He looked pointedly at Hajime. "And you're still thinking too small."

 _Hmph...fine, don't tell me. Anyway, the main question is Nidai, and I..._ Hajime sighed. _I just can't stop worrying about if he's some kind of sick trap, if he's something like the next motive...but...if he really is the same Nidai...shouldn't I believe in him? In that slim possibility that he's the same person? After going through so much, that's the least I can do..._

 _And if I can accept him as being the same, if Tsumiki is still my friend, then...can I still be the same after getting back my memories?_ Hajime rested his head on his hands, facing Komaeda. _Will...will we still be friends, after...?_

He stared at the faint movements of Komaeda's eyes crawling through the pages, before trying to decipher what he was reading, but the title was too small and he couldn't recognize the words. So he gave up and looked at the pile of books instead, putting his vague recollections of Japanese to the test, but there were too many unknown kanji. "Hey, what's the easiest one here you've got?"

Komaeda put down his book, and pulled two thin novels out from his pile, one in red, the other in green. "These are probably the easiest to read..."

Hajime grasped the green one and read, "Noruwei...no mori?"

"Norwegian Wood. And that's volume two."

His face flushed as he winced and blurted, "I-I knew that!"

_Yeah, there's no way I'll be able to get through a single chapter, but..._

He traded it for the red covered book and attempted to read, sounding out the characters silently. His throat still hurt, but he slowly, softly said, "This...this will take me some time. You're not planning on reading them tonight, are you?"

Komaeda shrugged. "I've already read those, so it's fine."

"Well, okay."

They spent the next hour reading, or at least trying to read. _Seriously, why doesn't this place have any Japanese to English dictionaries?!_ His throat calmed down, though, and it felt a bit less scratchy, but his eyes were tired. He took a break, yawned again, and glanced over to Komaeda's book and got supremely jealous and uttered, "What! That's not fair, yours has pictures."

Komaeda huffed. "This is a comprehensive how-to guide with a bunch of technical terms...But...of course since you're an Ultimate, you'd be able to read it with absolutely no difficulty, if you want to trade?"

"Yeah...no. What's it about?"

A wide smile laced Komaeda's lips. "Why, survival of course! It tells us what to do in an apocalyptic scenario. Plus, it has detailed instructions on how to make weapons from common household products!"

"Wh-What?!"

"Did you know you could make bombs from certain fertilizers? Or from a few matches and a pipe? Or even just a pressure---"

"W-Wait, that's enough, I don't want to know about that."

_Jeez, is that seriously what he's been reading all this time?!_

Hajime looked askance and said, "Is it for...taking down Monokuma?"

"Exactly! Once we find out where he's located, we're going to need some heavy artillery to fight back. Though of course things are gonna be much easier since Nidai's with us, now."

_He did come out unscathed from that second bazooka attack...but are we really going to fight the bear like that?_

Hajime wondered where they would even find Monokuma's base of operations. "...I guess another island should be opening to us soon, we might be able to find his base there..."

"Yep, we should be prepared to explore again tomorrow. Who knows what we'll discover? Doesn't it make you feel so eager?"

"More like anxious..."

"Well, I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, it's not like we have a choice, right?"

"Yeah..."

_Although...is that really true? If we all just refuse to go...but no, then it'll be like the second motive again..._

Hajime sighed, and returned to his novel as Komaeda did the same. He vowed not to speak again tonight, but...Komaeda's presence was tempting. Fortunately, the other student was engrossed in reading, and stayed silent. So Hajime just fumbled through chapter one and some of two, stumbling over most words, guessing their meanings based on context and grammar. But he was losing focus fast, his hands moving through air as if it was water each time he turned a page. His blinks became longer and longer, his eyes repeating sentences over and over again. The book met his face as he gave in to sleep.

* * *

A blaring, grating voice emanated throughout the building, shrieking out the morning curfew. _H-Hu...uh?_ Hajime yawned, creaking his neck painfully, ignoring his pounding cut. _Argh, yeah...note to self, don't sleep in the library next time...especially not on my arm..._

"So you're finally awake, Hinata?"

"Huh?!"

He opened his eyes to Komaeda leaning against his hand, looking at him intently.

_H-How long has he been staring...? T-That's so embarrassing..._

Komaeda smirked. "Heh, you look so disheveled..."

A wide, wavering frown formed on Hajime's mouth as he immediately covered his blushing face in his arms, laying back down on the desk. "Nope, going back to sleep _right now."_

"We'll be late for breakfast...You don't want that, right?"

_Gah! Fine..._

Hajime lifted his face away, grumbling nonsense. He yawned again, standing up, stretching. His voice felt better, and other than the muscle pain from sleeping the wrong way, he was able to relax and say, "Alright, let's go."

The boys made their way to the restaurant, meeting the rest of the students there. They both had a light breakfast as everyone else finished their meals, except Nidai, who didn't eat anything.

_Even if I can accept the new Nidai...no matter what, this feels really strange...It's definitely going to take some time to get used to him..._

Nanami gifted Nidai the nickname, "Mechamaru," as the students questioned his newfound abilities. Soda crowded next to the robot, eyes glittering. "Are you malfunctioning!? If you show me your insides, I can fix you up, you know!"

Nidai flinched. "NOO MEANS NOOOO!"

"Tahahahaha!" Komaeda whisked his hands apart.

"S-So...you're here, too?" Kuzuryu pointed at him, scowling.

"Ah, I'm sorry..." Komaeda slumped down. "I should know my place and not speak out of turn when everyone's gathered together like this...However, I just wanted to make sure I spoke to you about what happened yesterday."

_What happened yesterday...?_

Komaeda glanced at Hajime. "That person Tsumiki called her 'beloved'...I can't help thinking about that and it won't get out of my head..."

_The reason why she killed them...all for that person..._

Hajime murmured, "But...she mentioned that they were dead, right?"

"Hmm..." He sighed. "You must think me a coward for worrying about that, then..."

_Does he think...what, that they could still be alive somehow? Or..._

Tanaka crossed his arms. "More importantly, we should be thinking about the Future Foundation, our enemy." His eyes glared at a nondescript object in the distance. "If that fearsome organization known also as World Ender is truly responsible for our imprisonment...Then investigating who's behind that organization is our top priority! We cannot flinch from this!"

_That organization Tsumiki mentioned...that word, 'future,' it's completely emblazoned across this island in Japanese. So this whole trip, this entire island, it has to be because of them._

"However..." Sonia bit her lip. "The more I think about it, the less sense it makes...Why would an organization that's secretly plotting to end the world make us suffer like this?"

Kuzuryu clenched one fist. "They went to a lot of trouble to abduct us and bring us to this island."

"Not only that," Komaeda added, "but they also took away several years worth of memories of our lives at Hope's Peak...for reasons that are unknown." He shook his head lightly. "But what we should be most concerned about, as it relates to that organization, is the traitor that's hiding among us."

_...The traitor...? Do they even exist? It could just be a deliberate hoax from the bear, and Tsumiki trying to psych us out._

Komaeda glanced around the room. "I wonder who it is. The true identity of the outsider hiding among us and trying to ensnare us..."

"I won't be fooled." Soda squinted at Komaeda. "You're obviously the most suspicious one here..."

"Heh, even a childish organization blathering about ending the world wouldn't accept someone like me. Nobody wants a worthless human like me to join their group...You guys should know that feeling well, right?"

"No, we don't." Hajime ignored every look of disbelief. "We've been lucky to have you with us, Komaeda."

"..." His nails dug into his palms hard, but before he could object, Nanami said, "But that's the reason why you're not the traitor...? I don't understand your theory at all."

Kuzuryu huffed, dragging a hand through his scalp. "And anyway, who do _you_ think is the most suspicious?"

Komaeda clenched his teeth together and bit out, "...That's obvious." He leaned on one leg, glaring at Hajime. "I nominate Hinata!"

"Wh- _What?!"_

"Well, isn't it normal to doubt the most unlikely candidate? Not just that, you're the only one here who still doesn't know what talent you possess...If we're basing this on an outsider hiding among a group of Ultimates, you should be doubted right away."

_Dammit, he's deliberately provoking me again...or is he just playing the villain? Probably both._

Soda stepped back from Hajime. "Then Hinata's the traitor?!"

"What? No!" Hajime swung a hand out. "Look, if we start doubting each other like this, then anyone will look suspicious."

Komaeda sighed. "That sort of deflection just makes you look more suspicious, you know?"

"You..." Hajime frowned. "Why do you want to find this 'traitor' so badly?"

"Hmm? It's rare to hear you ask such a half-assed question!"

"Oh? But I think your utter obsession on finding out who they are makes you the most suspicious one here."

"Hahaha! I know, right? Now you surely see, don't you?" Komaeda stepped towards Hajime. "There is _nothing_ good about me. Why, I'm probably the one who kidnapped you all here in the first place!"

_He's...so...frustrating..._

Hajime folded his arms together. "Then that means you aren't worthless enough to be accepted by Future Foundation, doesn't it?"

"No, you're wrong. I'm probably just used by them, like a slave." He stopped in front of him, staring defiantly in his eyes. "There's no way anyone would tolerate me otherwise."

"You know as well as I do that that's _not true."_

"W-Wait!" Soda flinched back from them both. "Then Komaeda's the traitor?!"

Hajime didn't bother glancing away from Komaeda as he retorted, "He's obviously not the traitor, Soda."

"Huh?" The mechanic gently smacked his forehead. "B-But he just said...?"

"That was hyperbole. Irrational hyperbole."

Komaeda's glare intensified. "It's not _irrational."_

"It is. Your entire existence defies rationality."

"That's not the same thing!"

"E-Everyone!" Sonia decreed, "Please stop fighting!"

_Fighting...? Oh._

Nidai beat his chest. "All right, I'll handle this! To eliminate this tense atmosphere, allow me to present...My new function!" He grunted as streams of liquid poured from his eyes. "The left one is Rooibos tea, and the right is Cola!"

_Seriously, why?_

Monomi appeared, admonishing Monokuma, and then tried to cutely announce the discovery of the next island. But the other classmates decided that this time, they would not explore it.

Hajime glanced at Komaeda, but the other student ignored him, still slightly sulking until he sighed, and looked back at Hajime, and nodded. _Yeah, despite what the rest agree...we're both going to go there..._

"Argh, jeez! How annoying! How lame!" Monokuma ran at them, rapidly spinning his arms. He destroyed Monomi with his legendary attack, and then said, "I've prepared a bunch of stuff you guys might find interesting on the new island! Such as...clues about Future Foundation..."

Komaeda's eyes widened. "Huh?"

"Hehee, such as parts that may be useful for making a ship..."

Soda gasped. "You serious?! For real?!"

"And also...your student profiles from your time at Hope's Peak!"

_Wait...what?_

The bear danced back, disappearing as he added, "Sooo, do your best to explore! Take caaare!"

Nanami looked at Hajime and asked, "What should we do?"

Soda exclaimed, "O-Our only option is to go! Obviously we might be able to go home if we have ship parts!"

Komaeda smiled to the rest of the students. "I plan to go, too. If there are clues about that organization, we need to make sure we see them." He then returned Hajime's gaze, and uttered, "What about you, Hinata? Of course you're going, right?"

_Is that...an invitation? From him?_

"If you look at your student profile, you might be able to find out what your shining talent is..." He said, almost like offering an olive branch to Hajime.

"Hmm...I'm still not sure," Hajime faintly smirked. "Is that the only reason why I should go?"

Komaeda brightened. "Nope, it'll also be a chance for you to clear any suspicions, too!"

"And that's all?"

He tilted his head. "Well, yeah..."

The other students drifted out of the restaurant, on their way to fourth island, as Hajime slowly followed them out to the balcony. "You know, I can think of one more reason."

"And what's that?"

"To spend more time with you, of course."

Komaeda stepped back, glaring downwards. "You...want to explore together again? With someone like me...? That's ridiculous."

"If Monokuma's telling the truth, then yeah, I'd rather discover these clues with you..." Hajime looked away and added, "Though, I understand if you don't want to go with me..." 

Komaeda just paused, seeing the ploy for what it was. "If you truly want this, then of course I'll go with you, you don't even have to ask."

"But I like asking."

Komaeda looked at him sideways before rolling his eyes, and walked outside. Hajime followed, and they both basked in the sunlight as they walked to fourth island, pausing at the newly opened gate. Hajime stared at the creamy yellow flowers crawling up the stone walls and asked, "...How is something as pathetic as Monomi able to defeat a Monobeast?"

"Who knows? She probably just keeps dying until she eventually succeeds."

_That's pretty bleak...and probably accurate._

They continued onto the bridge, and saw bits of brightly colored specs floating in the sky. _What the?!_

"Is this...an amusement park...?"

A giant rainbow castle emerged in the distance, surrounded by a spinning ferris wheel, sprinting rollercoasters, and a shaking mini-train, all on top of a hideously teal-and-purple tiled floor. _This can't be the next island?!_

Komaeda shielded his eyes from the sun. "Huh, it's been a while since I've been to one of these places..."

"You were at a park like this?"

"Yep, I went there once with my parents...I never thought I'd have another opportunity to visit one again, though Monokuma has probably altered it terribly by now..."

"Well, it's not like he's changed _everything_ completely. There might be some rides that are relatively untouched."

Komaeda smiled. "Let's go see then."

They arrived on fourth island, right in front of the ferris wheel, and all the gaudy colors hurt Hajime's mind, so he stared up at the wheel. "Wow that's a lot bigger than I thought."

Komaeda nodded. "At least it's still moving slowly. Can you imagine if he decided to make it a spinning wheel of death?"

Hajime shuddered. "Thankfully, it's not. Want to check it out?"

The other student already paced forward. He looked back briefly and said, "Of course!"

Hajime raced to join him and together they stood at the entrance to the wheel, completely unmanned and continuously moving. Komaeda crossed his arms. "It seems that one of us has to stay here to operate it..."

A purple cart suddenly stopped in front of them, waited for less than five seconds, then rushed forward. Hajime considered trying it, but..."Yeah, it would be bad if we both went in and couldn't leave..."

"...Being in such a tiny, enclosed space...alone with you forever..." Komaeda swallowed. "That would be disastrous..."

_Hey! I don't think it would be that bad...well, no, it probably would be after a few days..._

Hajime shook his head and went to the controls. "Anyway, I can stay here so go ahead, I'll wait for you."

"...Are you sure?"

"You seem pretty excited over it, plus, you can probably see all the other islands from that height..."

"Y-Yeah..." Komaeda backed away a bit from the rotating pods. "On second thought...I don't trust Monokuma not to have changed it..."

"Really? It looks fine to me."

"It does now, but the minute I step in, it'll probably derail itself and collapse..."

_What, seriously?_

"Think about it, Hinata. There's no way he'd leave a hint that big out in the open like this. Fifth island should be a secret until we unlock it..."

"...You have a point there..."

_Great, now I'm starting to get a sinister feeling from it._

He drew back from the controls, scanning the place for anything else. "Well there doesn't seem to be any other clues here, let's go to the next place."

Komaeda hesitantly nodded, and they exited the entrance, strolling through fake apple trees to what was the former horror house. The sign next to the home had 'Usami' crossed out, and a giant bomb wedged itself into the roof, bleeding.

Hajime doubted his eyes. "Don't tell me we found Monomi's home...?"

Komaeda just walked to the door and knocked. "Monomi! If you're in there, don't tell us."

"Uh, what?"

"She's not responding...Let's go in!"

Komaeda turned the doorknob, but the rabbit burst from the bushes, wailing. "N-No! You can't go in!" She teared up. "E-Even teachers have a private side that their students aren't allowed to see!"

Hajime scoffed. "I doubt that. This is where you're monitoring us, isn't it?"

Komaeda quickly glanced at him, but Monomi clenched her paws together. "N-No, it's not like that! You're both boys of a certain age. I-If you must enter, then I'll have to leave the door open halfway, otherwise my mommy won't shut up about it..." She started sweating profusely. "Ha-wa-wa! Wh-What am I saying!? It's just a 'what if' scenario, okay?"

"Yeah, there's no way that's happening." Hajime glared at her until she whimpered off, and Komaeda finally turned the knob, and they both stepped inside. Her room was a frilly pink madness, heart pillows flooding the floor, hot pink streamers suffocating the ceiling. Behind her bed lay six monitors caged in more golden hearts, streaming video from the previous islands. On the far window, there was a rack filled with Monomi suits. Hajime scratched his cheek. "This is pretty sad."

"She clearly has no power anymore." Komaeda tapped his fingers against the monitors, but he couldn't operate them. He then started ruffling through Monomi's drawers, finding only scraps of fluff and more Usami straps.

Hajime searched the rack of plushie clothing. _...This is an invasion of her privacy, but...I'm not inclined to care right now either._

Komaeda sighed. "There's nothing here, too. She must've removed anything incriminating before she told us this morning..."

"If the island was also locked to her, until today...then this is probably the first time she'll live here, right? After being Monomi..."

"Yeah..." Komaeda's eyes widened a smidge as he smiled. "Which means there'll be more clues here later if we catch her by surprise!"

_Heh, that may actually be fun to watch._

They left her room, checking out her lawn, finding discarded plastic apples. They followed the paved brick road east, spying the grandiose mouse-themed castle. Monokuma and Monomi were bickering at the gate, cowering from their inhuman fear of mice, and retreated back to safety when they spotted the students, who continued their walk over the bridge, staring at the enclosing walls and encroaching spires.

Hajime strained his neck backwards, trying to see the full castle. "This place is huge...! We could probably get lost in here."

A knife-like smirk landed on Komaeda's lips. "Amazing, Hinata! You're completely right, since you're with me, there's no doubt that we'll get lost for sure!" His eyes snaked inwards as he opened his arms. "Being forced to survive here when we're already in a survival situation...That'd be pretty rare! Hmhmhm...I hope we get out of here safely..."

"...You're really looking forward to the good luck that'll come after, aren't you?"

"Heh, exactly. I can't wait to see what it...would...be..." A faint pink tinge colored Komaeda's face before he immediately whisked his head towards the door, opening it except it grunted back instead. "Ah, I think it's locked."

"Well that's one crisis averted."

"How disappointing."

_...Why does he sound so unhappy about that?_

The boys left the bolted door alone, walking back over the moat when Tanaka and Soda joined them, along with their new resident robot.

_Oh...maybe...?_

"Hey, Tanaka? I was just wondering..."

Tanaka stepped back in surprise. "You?! Is a mere human going to offer his opinion to me, an Overlord? Fascinating, fascinating, you fiend!" His hamsters started playing with his lapels, eating the stray strings from his cloak. "I'll play your game, you rogue. Come, tell me...Try to satisfy my Four Dark Devas of Destruction!

"Well, alright. Your devas, can't they transform into mice? We might be able to permanently scare Monokuma with them."

"Hmph, a worthy consideration." He grinned for a moment, but then scowled. "But I've told you before, these are their temporary forms. A fiend like you is incapable of imagining what would happen once they shed their transient guises." He brought one of his hamsters, Cham-P, up to his face. "Even adopting another form would blind mere mortals entirely! Kehehe, ignorance is horrendous...that's why it's only interesting to converse with humans once in a while."

"Yeah, I guess I wouldn't want them to be in danger, too."

Tanaka silently gasped, startled. But Komaeda smiled instead. "Ah, I know! We can just have Soda make us mechanical mice, right?"

"Huuh? Me?" Soda scratched his beanie. "I-I guess I could..."

Nidai laughed. "You're all slowly seeing the awesomeness of robots!" His body beeped as he added, "Here, let me show you all another amazing function!"

Sparkles shined in Soda's eyes. "I-Is it flight?! Can you fly?!"

The Ultimate manager groaned as his body rumbled, and his chest sprung open, an analog clock bursting out. "I'm able to sense the passage of time! I don't even need to look at these guys anymore."

Komaeda looked fascinated. "The inside of your chest is completely hollow."

"Gahahaha! All for this highly efficient radio clock!"

_A radio clock...interesting._

Soda clarified, "It's a type of clock that receives radio signals so it can automatically update the time at fixed intervals."

Komaeda turned to him. "That means it can't be tampered with, so Nidai should always have the most accurate time."

_Well, not if Monokuma's broadcasting the radio waves, to mess with us..._

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Nidai banged his chest shut. "I have become a Time Lord!"

Soda chuckled and began questioning the robot again, as they both left towards the locked door. Tanaka's hamsters jumped from his scarf and began playing with the wooden mice on the fence. The breeder smirked and glanced at Hajime. "Though you are a human, somehow you have entertained me with your conversation. If I feel like it, I may even praise you."

_Heh._

"Then I'll look forward to it."

Tanaka continued to admire his hamsters, and Hajime and Komaeda strolled to the next area. They passed by an ice cream stand that was also bleeding syrup down its sides. _Creepy._ Gleaming red rails of the rollercoaster swirled across the sky as they neared its entrance. Inside, a bullet-looking cart waited for them, vibrating.

Hajime stared at the Monokuma-face etched into its front. "...Please tell me you don't want to ride this thing."

"How perceptive, Hinata! Of course we'll both probably die if we ride it together. These kinds of rides have the highest accident rates."

"...Let's be careful, then. There's no doubt he modified it to be even worse than usual."

They scoured the cart for any sort of file Monokuma promised, but it was completely empty. Komaeda shoved his hair back. "Jeez, there are no clues anywhere." He sighed. "How about you, did you find anything?"

"No...you think he was just lying again?"

"Hm, we may have to wait for the next motive to learn more."

_The next motive...what more can he keep doing to us?!_

Nanami burst through their cloud of disappointment, saying, "Guys, guess what? Guess what?"

Hajime snorted. "What is it? You found a game console stashed somewhere?"

"No...that would be pretty great though..." She clenched both her fists. "Monokuma said there was an arcade machine in the Funhouse!"

"Huh, but don't you already have one?"

_I'm pretty sure the one in her room counts..._

"That doesn't matter! It's an arcade machine, a proper amusement park arcade machine!"

Komaeda turned to her with a suspicious look on his face. "So you haven't gone to see it yet?"

She played with her backpack straps, looking down. "Well, he said we all have to be there for the doors to open..."

Komaeda paused, glancing at Hajime. "And did he actually say it was an arcade machine? It's more likely that he was just teasing you, right?"

She puffed her cheeks. "He said there would be a treat waiting for us there. That's gotta mean an arcade machine...probably."

_That's the first thing you think of!?_

"Regardless, I think we all should see what's there." Komaeda began to walk out of the ride's entrance, but the other students greeted him outside instead.

Seeing them all together like this hinted at another plot from the bear, and Hajime asked, "...Why are you guys here?"

Sonia ruffled her sleeve. "Monokuma told us to come here..."

_What could it be this time...? Wait, don't tell me it's..._

Owari pounded a fist against her palm. "He finished fixin' the coaster, so I'll be the first one riding it!"

Kuzuryu walked up to Hajime and sighed. "Not only that, but he promised us a treat if we all ride it."

_A treat...?_

He met Komaeda's and Nanami's eyes, as the bear deigned to appear, yelling, "Welcome to the main attraction of this park, the Great Ultra-Delicious Coaster!"

Hajime glared at him. "Hey, what exactly are you going to give us for riding it?"

Monokuma winked. "Aw no! That's a surprise!"

Soda twitched his beanie, tears in his eyes. "...D-Do we really all have to ride this together...?"

"What are you saying, are those ears of yours for decoration only? Of course you must!"

The other students slowly convinced Soda to ride it, tantalizing him with the promise of ship parts, before Sonia questioned the meaning of the rollercoaster.

Komaeda crossed his arms. "Everyone, it's just going to be a waste of time if we stand around like this...Why don't we just try riding it?"

Hajime stared him down. "Really? You're not worried anymore?"

"Nope! Whatever bad luck that'll come will be worth it for that information."

_We don't even know if he's going to give it to us..._

Soda protested. "N-No way! There's no way I'm riding it!"

Komaeda smiled at their robot. "Nidai, can I leave this to you?"

He hollered, "LEAVE IT TO ME!" and picked up Soda and stuffed him inside the coaster, ignoring his cries for help and look of indescribable horror. That done, Komaeda turned back to Hajime and said, "After you, Hinata."

_...Do I really want to sit next to him on this insanely dangerous ride? Ah, who am I kidding._

He got onto the ride along with his remaining classmates, and the rollercoaster took off at maximum speed. Owari's yells of glee matched Soda's shouts of terror as the coaster rolled and swiveled across the sky. Hajime clutched the safety bar for life, but even he was able to let go of his worries for a bit and just enjoy the cool wind blowing back his hair, the touch of warmth from where Komaeda grazed him a little. Komaeda couldn't keep his smile from wavering, though Tanaka's did as he howled, "Be still...my heart!"

In no less than three minutes, the ride stopped back at the entrance and the students all stumbled out, only some more worse for wear.

_S-So it's finally over...That was a little...too intense..._

He glanced at Komaeda to see if he was doing okay, but he smothered a laugh ineffectively instead. _Oh man, his hair! It's even more wild than before, how is that even possible?!_

"Uh, Komaeda? You've got a stray strand...here, let me?"

The other boy confusedly agreed, and Hajime reached out to glide his hands across his bangs, tangling them in his hair, moving them backwards as Komaeda swallowed. Hajime got it somewhat back to normal then said, "There, I guess it's a bit better now."

Komaeda grasped his arm, looking away. "...A-Ah, thank you..."

The students bickered behind them, and they rejoined the conversation as Nanami faced Monokuma. "Hey, more importantly, where's our treat?"

The bear pulled out a folder. "Oh yeah, right! Here you go! The treat is a file!"

_That symbol! It's the word, 'future,' again..._

Komaeda turned to Monokuma. "Is it all right if I checked inside?" He grabbed the file, and opened it as the students crowded around him. He carefully, slowly turned the pages, and they all read about the killing school life of Hope's Peak Academy's 78th class. He got to the page with the six survivors of that game. "Hey, these photos of them...what does this mean? Why is...he in this photo?"

Hajime looked at the pictures. "Is that...Togami?"

Across the area, everyone flinched in surprise. Komaeda leafed through the remaining pages before moving back to the one with their pictures. "Th-This...what does this mean?"

Soda clamped a hand against his head. "Like what's this killing school trip that they're talking about!?"

Komaeda stared directly at Hajime. "It looks like the killings we're involved in resemble this set of killings that happened before...And that took place inside Hope's Peak."

_Inside Hope's Peak?!_

He asked, "Resemble? What do you mean?"

"Well, their first trial also involved a stabbing; in their second, someone was bludgeoned to death; and their third trial had two victims..."

_That's just a coincidence, right? But if it's not...if there are more similarities..._

Kuzuryu paled. "H-Hold on...did these fucked up killings actually happen inside _the_ Academy? That's not possible! There's no way the teachers or the police would let that happen!"

Tanaka's scarf wrapped around his neck. "However...what if Future Foundation--World Ender--was the one who initiated this?"

Komaeda sighed. "If Togami were still alive, we would've been able to learn the details of this...How unfortunate..."

_Is that what Togami wanted to talk to me about...? But wait..._

"No, I don't think so." Hajime brought a hand to his chin. "He lost his memories, too, right? I doubt he would've stayed silent about it otherwise..."

_But for him to change so drastically from this picture...what does this mean? How long ago was this killing school life?!_

"Anyway, since Togami is no longer with us, we have no choice but to ask Monokuma." Komaeda glanced at the bear, closing the file. "How do these events relate to this island?"

Monokuma turned away, showing his back. "The only thing I can say is..." He jumped to face them again. "All the answers are in your school memories that were taken away! Ah, but too bad! The Future Foundation took those away and in my current state, there's nothing I can do about it."

"Regardless, it's unforgivable...!" Komaeda glared at him. "I will never forgive those who try to trample hope. They should all be destroyed...!"

"Argh, this isn't making sense at all!" Soda shook his head, frowning. "How fucking annoying. Whatever man, just lemme go back home! Where the hell are the ship parts?"

The bear flushed. "Oh who knows? They should be somewhere on this island."

Sonia tapped her fingers together. "I have searched this island once through...but I did not find ship parts anywhere."

Komaeda looked at Nanami. "No, the Funhouse should still be left."

Crossing his arms and hiding his hamsters, Tanaka said, "Based on what I've heard, it seems like we cannot access it unless we're all gathered together, correct?"

"Ding ding! Cooooorect!" Monokuma stared at them. "That's right, the treats you can't find are allll hidden inside the Funhouse!"

_All the treats? Then, the student profiles will be there...I can...finally see what my talent is...I can finally know why I was chosen, what they found worthy enough to let me in to Hope's Peak...But, that attitude--there's no way this is not a trap, should we still go? We've got clues on Future Foundation, do we really need the rest?_

A sludgy, hollow pit grew in the bottom of his throat as his mind flashed back to his dream in the obscure classroom, and he couldn't shake the feeling of dread accompanying it. _After all this time...after all these insecurities...I-I don't want to know what my profile says. Not this soon._

He gathered his courage, knowing that this had a slim change of success, but still..."Guys, we shouldn't go. Let's just head back to the cottages right now."

"What?!" Komaeda took half a step back. "Hinata, we have to go."

"It's just our student profiles and...and what, ship parts? That's not worth it. Hell, those 'parts' are probably something stupid like a toy kit."

"But your talent! Don't you want to know what it is?"

"Of course I do but...! This is obviously a trap, you know that. Why does he need us all there if not to announce the next motive? As long as one of us decides not to go, then no one will discover it, right? We can at least foil this plan of his..."

"I agree." Nanami pointed at Komaeda. "If that's all that's waiting for us there, then I don't think we should go. We're better off staying here, so..." She brought up her hood. "C'mon, let's just go back."

_Nanami...thank you..._

Komaeda clenched his fists. "But our profiles may contain more than just our talents, it may have clues to our lost memories too. Isn't that worth it? We may find more information on Togami..."

"It's not worth another potential murder. Nothing's worth that." She looked to the ground, but the other students affirmed her beliefs, even Soda deciding it wasn't worth being disappointed again.

"Grrrr!" Monokuma flushed red, throwing his arms out. "No, no, no, no! You guys! Isn't a trap meant to be sprung?" He brought up a claw, its nails shining. "Don't make me force you all to go."

"F-Force...?!" Hajime swallowed. "Y-You can't do that!"

"THAT'S RIIGHT!" Nidai slammed his chest. "I won't allow it!"

"Oh, yeah? Just watch me!" Monokuma smiled. "New rule! Anyone who doesn't go to the Funhouse right now will be severely punished! Puhuhuhu!"

_N-No...! He can't! We were so close..._

Tanaka's scarf flew in the wind as he said, "Hmph. Plunging yourself into a trap is an act of sheer madness...Fuhahahahah! But that's what makes it truly interesting!"

_I'm glad he's at least looking at this positively..._

They slowly shuffled to the entrance to the Funhouse, Monokuma prodding at them from behind with a machine gun.

A horrible train decaled in Monokuma stickers greeted them. The bear ordered them to get on it. Hajime glanced at Komaeda, who said, "Now then, let's hurry up and go. It looks like all the answers we're looking for are where this train is headed."

"...I hope you're right."

They all trudged onto the train, which whistled as it moved inside the dim tunnel ahead. The roar of the tracks almost drowned out Monokuma's voice as he played the announcer and droned on and on about his impressive Funhouse, but a sudden spurt of compressed air ruptured across the tunnel, like a pipe bursting, and Hajime immediately covered his mouth and nose with his tie, grabbing Komaeda's shirt, covering his face too, as white gas poured from the ceiling. He stared into the other boy's startled eyes, but his hands felt soft, numb, melting, mushing, crawling up his body as he passed out.

* * *

_Auuughhh....my head...Fuck, was I too late?_

He opened his eyes to pink strawberries and white splotches moving upwards. A patch of yellow sunflowers amplified the yellow of the security monitors; their green leaves mirroring the green of the stems of the berries slowly spinning on the wall. _What...what is this place?_

His hands dug into the white fluffy carpet beneath him as he blinked back impressions of strawberries on his eyelids. Nidai and Owari sat across from him, except between blinks he saw Nidai's former self coalesce into his robotic form, then back to human, then he grew a metal arm and feet, and...then they were gone.

Hajime crushed his eyes, opening them again. There was a robot sitting next to him, Owari by Sonia and Kuzuryu. He looked to the left and noticed Komaeda leaning on him, eyes still closed, Nanami sleeping in Komaeda's lap. _Huh, maybe this isn't so bad..._

The other students started to wake, surrounding him with confused gibberish. Both Komaeda and Nanami opened their eyes and yawned at the same time, sitting up. She rubbed her eyes again. "Mmmm...why was I sleeping at a place like this...?" She lay back down on Komaeda. "Oh well...I should go back to sleep for a little longer..."

Soda blurted, "No, don't! You seriously can't do that!"

Tanaka wiped sweat off his forehead with his scarf. "I assume...that this was that gas's doing."

Nanami finally got up as Kuzuryu said that they must've been brought here after they were knocked out. Komaeda added, "I see...In that case, this must be the interior of the Funhouse."

Monokuma burst from the sunflowers, welcoming them to Strawberry House.

_...Which means...there's probably more fruit-themed houses..._

The bear passed out floor plans of Strawberry House, a three-story building with an unusual circular room on the first floor. _So we're on the third floor, and the only other exits seem to be on the first floor..._

"Puhuhu! Guest rooms are on the second floor, and they are divided up by quality grade. The Deluxe Room is soundproof and has excellent air insulation, the Standard Room may have so-so insulation, but it's still pretty decent. And the Crummy Room has severe airflow and draft problems!"

Monokuma danced in place, yelling, "On the first floor there's a room called the Final Dead Room that's all like BOOM! You can enter the FDR at any time, but be extra cautious when you pick the difficulty setting!"

_Difficulty setting...?_

"There's also Strawberry Hallway, connecting to the super amazing Strawberry Tower!" He stopped dancing and stared at them. "This concludes the tour. Please explore the building to really get a feel of it. Any questions?"

"Hell yeah we have questions!" Soda pointed at the bear.

Tanaka said, "To bring us to a place like this...what are you planning to make us do this time?"

The bear clasped his paws over his mouth. "Oh? Didn't I tell you? This is the motive this time...An escape game!"

_Great..._

He went on about letting them all out when the killing began, then disappeared. The students all protested, and Komaeda sighed. "I never expected the motive to be so simple...he's losing creativity, isn't he?"

"How foolish of me..." Tanaka uttered, biting down on his lip. "If only I'd erected a magic barrier, I wouldn't have had to breathe in that gas...!"

"No, Tanaka..." Hajime wearily said. "He would've just found another way to move us all here."

Nidai clenched his metallic fists. "...I let my guard down and ended up falling asleep!"

_That's right...He shouldn't have been affected by the gas..._

The robot looked down. "They must have activated my sleep mode...even I don't stand a chance from that."

Nidai explained his sleep function, the Good Night Button on the back of his neck, which forced him to suspend all of his other functions. _What, why?_

"What's the point of that?!"

"Fool! Didn't I just tell you? It's for insomnia! And in order to awaken from sleep mode, I just need to set the alarm in my chest! It's all possible with just one touch!"

"Why do you even need to sleep?"

Tanaka folded his arms. "He probably wants to live like humans as much as he can...such is the sad nature of robotic organisms."

"Anyway..." Nanami pondered. "Mechamaru must've lost consciousness because his button was pressed. But for now, why don't we look for the exit?"

Komaeda looked at her. "Exit...is there even an exit? I mean, if there was, this wouldn't be a closed space, right? It'd make Monokuma's motive meaningless..."

"Dumbass!" Kuzuryu exclaimed. "What are you giving up for? If we were brought inside here, there's definitely an exit somewhere!"

"A-Amazing! A heart that refuses to give up until the very end...That must be hope..." Komaeda smiled at them. "Yes, I understand! Then let's explore the inside of this building with the map we got!"

"But exploring on your own is too dangerous," Nanami said, gazing at them all. "It might be better if we team up with someone."

Kuzuryu left with Owari, as Komaeda laughed. "Wow, when you two stand right next to each other, there's a noticeable height difference!"

_Heh, I think I've seen a plot like that before..._

Sonia already left with Tanaka, and Komaeda glanced at Hajime. "Now then, I think it's time for me to get going too, so..."

_Is he...going to...?_

"Nanami, would you like to go together?" He said, ignoring Hajime completely.

_Wh-What?! That...that was so straightforward of him! That's not fair!_

Nanami tilted her head. "Huh?...Me?"

"Yep. I haven't really had a chance to talk to you, so I thought this would be a great opportunity..."

Soda glanced at them. "Then...take Hinata with you, too. Three people is okay, right?"

"Huh? That's fine, but..." Komaeda brightened. "Oh, I get it! You're trying to avoid him!"

_O-Ouch...! He didn't have to put it like that..._

"...You still think I could be the traitor?" Hajime asked Soda.

"W-Well, you know...The truth is we don't know anything about you, so it's not my fault if I don't trust you..."

 _They...don't know anything about me?_ He looked back at Komaeda and Nanami. _Is that really true...?_

Soda pulled his beanie down. "I-I mean, it's not like we know the _real_ you! Just like how...we didn't know anything about Tsumiki..."

Tsumiki's smiling face flashed in his mind, her worried hands clasped together as she told him to take better care of himself, the way she fidgeted with her hair when she was a bit insecure with herself...her swelling laughter as she ranted about her beloved, her cruel eyes mocking them all as she left them. A bitter taste stuck in his throat, like he swallowed limes. "But that's true for any of us."

"I'm sorry, Hinata..." Soda said cynically. "I really do want to trust you...but I just can't yet."

"Yeah, I see..."

_I guess that can't be helped right now. Or...more like, it's not worth the effort to change his mind._

Soda left, patting Nidai on the shoulder, and the robot followed him out. Komaeda turned to Hajime, smiling. "You know Hinata, even if you are the traitor and have been lying to us this whole time, it'll be fine. After all, you can start making amends by telling us how to leave this place, right?"

"You're not helping. Plus, that assumes Monokuma and Monomi are working together. I mean, if the traitor and Monomi are part of Future Foundation...then what group is Monokuma part of? They're clearly enemies, aren't they?"

"He did usurp whatever Usami had planned for us." Nanami touched her chin in thought. "So...I think it makes sense to see them from two different organizations."

Komaeda crossed his arms. "But it could just be an act."

Hajime snorted. "Like an insane good cop, bad cop routine?"

"Exactly. By making us focus on taking Monomi down, we're neglecting Monokuma."

"But that could be true if they're from different groups, too."

Komaeda shook his head. "You're forgetting that the other killing school life was also orchestrated by Monokuma. If Future Foundation was behind that game, then it makes sense to think that they're still working together."

Nanami sighed. "Well, regardless, right now we gotta focus on escaping from here."

Hajime and Komaeda nodded, and they began exploring the room, but the only thing of notice was the patch of sickly sunflowers. They left to the second floor, strawberries haunting their vision. _I'm going to get extremely sick of seeing these things..._

Every strawberry slowly drifted in a different direction on the walls, floor, and ceiling, alternating between red and white. A giant wrapped candy piece sat atop a pedestal in the corner of the room, across an equally giant teacup, both matching the walls. Nanami peered inside the cup, folding herself over its rim. "Nothing's in here." She hopped back down.

Komaeda turned to her. "So Nanami..." The other girl glanced suspiciously at him as Hajime examined the giant inedible candy. "I'm curious to know what choice you made."

"Choice...?"

"Yep. You know, between shooting that guy or letting the girl incinerate."

Her eyebrows scrunched as she stared at him. "...What do you mean?"

"Huh? You haven't played it? Even though you're the Ultimate Gamer?"

"I-I'm not some fake gamer girl! I just haven't played every single game out there yet...Especially not games with many decisions like that..."

"Aw, but those are the best. You can force the player into many interesting choices, like choosing to shoot someone to save another...So what would you do?"

She puffed her cheeks. "...I'd obviously save both."

"Heh, it's so refreshing to see that kind of confidence. But what if you couldn't?" Komaeda leisurely stepped towards Hajime. "What if Hinata and I were trapped in a locked room with untamperable bracelets on, and you're outside." He grasped Hajime's stitched wrist, bringing it up as Hajime gasped, examining it. "The bracelets are set to inject both of us with a deadly poison in less than a minute, but you can choose to deactivate one of them. So, what'll it be? Who would you save?"

Hajime swallowed, hoping Komaeda didn't notice his skin heating. "I'd just cut my wrist off and tell her to save you."

Komaeda glanced at him for a second before running his thumb very lightly around Hajime's wrist. "Ah, unfortunately, you're unconscious. And there's absolutely nothing in the room sharp enough to do that."

Nanami glared at him. "That choice...really sucks."

"You should choose quickly, time is running out."

She crossed her arms, looking at the ground. "That's...I can't answer that..."

"So that's the extent of your hope. Indecisive to the end..." He dropped Hajime's hand, sighing. "What a weak response..."

Hajime swallowed, trying to ignore the invisible imprint left by him on his skin. "That's not it, she wouldn't let us even get in that situation. Right?"

She clutched both fists. "Yeah. There's no way I would let you guys get hurt like that...I won't allow anything to happen to you all."

"Ah, two Ultimates striving for hope is so beautiful to watch!" Komaeda put a hand to his heart for a moment. "Now then, should we continue exploring the rest of this floor?"

Hajime glanced at Nanami, rolling his eyes, and they followed Komaeda to the first crummy room by the lounge. Fingernails scratched the walls, which were painted like it was covered in long, thick black hair. Abhorant color splotches of neon green and bright purple decorated the floor and furniture. The bed was just a thin futon and a lumpy pillow. _Definitely a room I don't want to be in..._ They searched the room quickly, but it was empty, and left for the other crummy room, but it too had no clues.

Outside, Hajime stretched. _Man, this has been a day of fruitless searching..._ His stomach growled. _I guess it's almost time for dinner? Although I did skip lunch, so..._

The group continued to the lounge, badgering their eyes with more swaying pink berries. Tanaka and Sonia sat on slanted chairs designed to be uncomfortable. An old, ticking clock hung on the wall, like the kind belonging to a school. _It's almost eight, or at least...that's what it says..._

Komaeda stood across a portrait of an old man placed high on the left wall, and Hajime joined him in gazing at it, but there was absolutely nothing remarkable about him. _Well, his haircut's a bit weird...though that's pushing it._ Komaeda moved closer to the portrait, reading its placard, and said, "Hope's Peak Academy's founder...Kamukura Izuru..."

His head shook like a gong shuddering, the voices dimmed and crackled and crescendoed into a bright blast off his right ear, and he blinked and his eyes refocused and saw a hazy city of rubble. It was blisteringly hot, waves of heat and smoke and explosions racketed the area, choking him, and there were rocks and shrapnel hitting the air and the ground, which shook with every thunderous roar, every blast of fire, threatening to cave in. He was stepping in something---

_"...Kamukura...?"_

_\---on someone,_ someone in black smoke and spiraling iron chains and wild dirty white hair, who clutched his shoe, and Hajime grinned and stomped down further---

Nanami tapped him on the shoulder. "...Hinata? Are you...okay? I think we should all rest for a bit before continuing..."

_Hh...uh?_

He blinked again, clutching his head, his heart racing. But he couldn't remember more, and...and he didn't want to, the echoes of _that voice_ still ringing in his ears, the acrid smoke and violent heat still heavy on his tongue, the phantom touches still grasping his leg, dragging it down. He lowered his head, avoiding the portrait, and said, "O-Oh, uh...no, I'm fine." He wandered over to the red telephone with an image of a green grape, ignoring Komaeda's gaze, and tried to distract himself. "S-So...since there's no dial pad on this phone...I assume it connects to only one place?"

Komaeda answered, "...Yeah, there's probably a Grape House somewhere..."

Hajime sighed. "Great, another house with barely any answers." He looked to the resting students. "Did you guys have any luck?"

Tanaka snickered as he recounted his plan of having his Devas scout for clues. Sonia also waited for them to report back. Finding no food in the lounge, the group went to look in the standard room and deluxe rooms, but they were both poorly decorated and bereft of clues, so they left for the first floor with Nanami's cautious gaze following Hajime down.

Owari, Kuzuryu, Soda, and Nidai all scoured the first floor, examining its huge strawberry statue. Komaeda paused, gesturing to them and said, "Look at them all, searching around like amazing symbols of hope. They're completely different compared to a quitter like me." Hajime raised an eyebrow at him as Komaeda added, "I'm terribly sorry...that someone like me is forced to be with everyone like this..."

"You do realize you're correct in thinking that we're not going to be able to escape this place so easily, right?" He waited for the other boy to agree. "Even if we do find an exit, Monokuma is probably going to force us to stay here anyway, until..."

Nanami tilted her head in confusion. "So...you're both just giving up...?"

"No, just..." Hajime stared at the Final Dead Room, its doors painted in clownface. "There may be another way of getting out of here..."

"Ah, you mean killing someone, right?" Komaeda turned to him as Nanami flinched back.

"Of course not. At least, not one of us. But if it's killing Monomi..."

"That's wrong, too." Nanami frowned at him. 

"Huh..." Komaeda looked at Hajime in thought. "You think that would work?"

"Well, it's not like it prohibits it in the rules...the only question is if he'd take it as a murder..."

"That's still wrong." She clutched her cat hoodie. "I won't allow any killings, even her's..."

"Yeah, you're right." Hajime sighed again. "There might be something he overlooked, we should keep searching." They went to the Final Dead Room, but Monokuma popped up before they opened the door.

"Allow me to explain. This is a challenge given to you all by Headmaster Monokuma! Only those who win the Life-Threatening Game that occurs in this room will be able to reach the Octagon, the fabled holy land where the Ultimate Weapon sleeps!" His plushie body flushed red. "If you're feeling heroic and you're willing to risk your life to continue living, go out and challenge the FDR!"

He disappeared as Hajime stared at Komaeda, saying, "Life-threatening game...?"

"Heh, my favorite."

"Yeah...let's save this room for later."

Nanami retorted, "Or more like...never." And she stared down at them both, daring them to disagree.

Hajime caved first. "A-Alright, already...jeez. It's not like we need a weapon, anyway."

They headed to the elevator, but it wasn't opening. Komaeda tapped the grape panel by the door. "So, it seems like this goes to Grape House."

Hajime tried pressing it too, and nothing happened. "I guess it'll activate once the bear decides we've explored everything here?"

Nanami looked up at the strawberries moving across the metal plates. "Why strawberry?"

"...Huh?" Komaeda and Hajime both blurted, staring at her.

"Personally, I think...tangerines are totally fine, too. Or even fruits like peaches or apples."

He glanced at Komaeda. _Tangerines, huh..._

"Yeah, any of those fruits would've been fine."

Nanami asked, "Then why strawberry?"

Komaeda pointed to the sauntering berries. "Who knows? More importantly, based on the way they're moving...it seems like they're being projected from somewhere...?"

"Hmm..." Hajime looked across the open, red room. "But, from where...?"

"Well, that may not be relevant." A strawberry started crawling up the walls, next to Komaeda. "But if it's true, it does suggest that he could change the images...Maybe you should beg him to, Hinata."

Hajime smirked. "You'd like to see that, wouldn't you?"

Komaeda continued to smile. "Anyway, we should go check out the tower now. Everyone else went in there already."

He left for the hallway, Nanami and Hajime following him, although she was more concerned with finding the tool that projected the berries. Inside the hallway, a bright red strawberry door greeted them, with another panel next to it. Komaeda pressed it, and this time, the door opened.

The tower was washed in muted oranges, with a green grape painted on the door across from them. _Oh, finally. A place that doesn't give me headaches to look at._

Hajime looked up, but the ceiling was so high, all he could see was darkness above. _Or, maybe Komaeda's right and it's just colored that way..._

Nanami poked at the Usami decal on the floor. "Look, she's eating another strawberry."

"What? Really?" He stood there, wondering why the bear would leave this untouched.

The other boy knelt down and moved his hand over the print. "Hmm...the way this is displayed..." He caught Nanami's gaze. "What do you think, Nanami?"

"I think...it's like what you said earlier...probably."

Hajime walked over, behind Komaeda. "You may be right, this actually doesn't seem like it's printed on the floor, more like...it's lit from underneath the floor..."

Komaeda nodded. "Which means it can also be changed."

Nanami walked to the walls. "These seem to be the same, too...they're lit from the floor..."

"And let me guess," Komaeda asked. "The bulbs are clear, but the lights are red?"

"Yeah...at least, it looks like that."

They all paused in thought, then went to check out the door with the grape design.

Hajime touched it. "This, at least, seems like a real print."

_But...wait a minute..._

"The door handle...it's twisted?!"

"GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Waagh!"

The students flinched back as Nidai appeared, awkwardly chuckling, a metal hand behind his head. "Sorry guys, thought that door was the exit, so I tried opening it...but even at maximum power, it still wouldn't budge..."

Komaeda replied, "Maybe there's a locking mechanism? We should have Soda look into it."

_...He's a mechanic, not a locksmith._

"Right, where is everybody?" Hajime asked him skeptically. "I thought you said they were in here?"

The other boy just continued to smile. "...I guess they went somewhere else instead?"

_...So he was totally lying back there._

Nanami clenched her hands together. "Then let's go and tell them what we've found."

They all nodded, and left the tower. Back in the house, the rest of the students crowded around the elevator, surrounding Monokuma. Once they arrived, the bear said, "Yoohoo! How are you guys doing!? Were you able to get a general idea of Strawberry House's side?"

"Huh? Its side...?" Komaeda asked, not caring about the response. "Does that mean there's more of Strawberry House to see, or do you mean you have other houses to show us?"

"Puhuhu! You'll see. That's why there's this thing called a contact elevator! Don't think this thing can only move vertically, it's designed to go sideways, too!"

Tanaka crossed his arms. "So then...this box must shift us horizontally to an alternate dimension of pure terror. I see your games, now."

"Well you guys can worry about the details when you get there! I'll be going ahead!" The bear disappeared.

Nanami, Komaeda, and Hajime all looked at each other. _Guess this will take us to Grape House..._

Soda pressed the grape button and the doors opened. Everyone entered the puzzle-covered elevator. A strawberry and grape panel lay inside, and Nanami hit the grape one. The doors closed, but no one could tell if it was moving. Komaeda murmured, "It doesn't feel like we're moving extremely fast. It seems it's moving very slowly." He met Hajime's gaze. "If so...the two houses might be surprisingly close." Soon enough, the doors opened and displayed Grape House.

It was exactly patterned like Strawberry House, only with vivid green grapes crawling on everything instead. _Argh, my eyes...I don't think I can take this for long..._

Monokuma appeared again, passing out maps to Grape House. It was modeled like the other house, only hexagonal in shape, and with no Final Dead Room. The third floor included a Monokuma archive, whatever that was. "So that concludes this tour. Any questions?"

Owari grasped her waist. "Yeah, like...I'm starting to get hungry. Where's the food, anyway?"

"...Huh? Is that necessary?" The bear drew his hands over his mouth as the students protested. "But it's supposed to be an escape game, so how can there be any tension if there's no time limit? Sooo...I've decided to use your stomachs as the time limit!" Monokuma stared at them, laughing. "In other words, kill someone before you all starve to death!"

_Dammit, is he seriously doing this to us?!_

"Puhuhu...if you're planning to kill someone, I highly recommend you make your kill as soon as possible! Whahahahaaha! It'll be too late if you get so weak you have no energy to kill!" He disappeared again, before anyone could retaliate.

Owari yelled out, coupled with Soda and Kuzuryu, ignorant to Nidai's attempts to calm them. Komaeda's voice rose. "Well, being loud here isn't gonna help us, so for now, we should explore the inside of this building too. After all...if you don't give up, you're sure to find hope." He glanced at the growling yakuza. "Isn't that right, Kuzuryu?"

_Well, look at him, being hopeful for once..._

"Y-Yeah...that's right..." Kuzuryu sighed, calming himself.

Komaeda looked at Hajime and Nanami. "Then let's get started. The same pairing as before is fine, right?"

Kuzuryu nodded, and he left with Owari. Sonia and Tanaka already disappeared upstairs, with a grumbling Soda and Nidai following them. Komaeda immediately walked to the bronze statue of a girl in a sailor uniform at the center of the room. "This is..."

"What is it?" Hajime read the placard below it. "Ogre...?" He turned to Nanami. "Do you recognize her?"

"Hmm...no, I don't think so..."

"Well, that's obvious." Komaeda pulled out the file on the previous killing game. "She was the victim in their fourth trial..."

"What?!"

_Wait, if that's true...then how is her statue here?! Just how much time has passed...?_

They looked at the statue again, it's bronze weathered, but not cracked. Hajime said, "She was also a student at Hope's Peak, right...? If this was made before that game, then..."

"No..." Komaeda looked down at the file. "Even if that's true...what is she doing on Jabberwock Island?" His voice lowered, like he was talking to himself. "This island has no connection to Hope's Peak, right? But this statue is here, so then it's because of Monokuma or Monomi..."

Nanami's eyes brightened. "Sonia was the one who translated the brochure for us...maybe she might know if Jabberwock has ties to Hope's Peak?"

"Yeah, we should go ask her later." Hajime turned towards the hallway. "For now though, we aren't going to come up with any answers just standing here. I think we should check out the tower for more clues."

"Okay." Nanami fiddled with her backpack strap, and they all left to the hallway, a black abyss of cheery silvery grapes. Komaeda pressed the grape panel, and after an uneasy minute, the door opened. Inside, the tower looked exactly like Strawberry Tower, only washed in light greens.

Nanami moved to the center of the room, staring at the strawberry door opposite them. "I think I've found out the secret of the Funhouse's structure...definitely."

Komaeda turned to her, smiling...almost sincerely, for once. "Hm? It's rare for you to be that certain."

She glanced down at the bunny decal eating a berry. "Well..." But before she could continue, the other students all rushed in. "Huh? Oh, you all came."

Kuzuryu nodded. "Good timing, we didn't have to gather everyone up."

"But that was quick." Hajime looked skeptically at them. "Is there nothing to investigate up there?"

The yakuza shook his head. "Yeah, there aren't many areas to search, and we didn't find any good clues..."

Owari lamented on finding no food anywhere, when Soda suggested eating Tanaka's hamsters.

"You imbecile! What are you implying!?" Sonia decreed.

"Ahhhh! I-I'm sorry!" He grasped his beanie for protection.

"Soda...you should be grateful to Sonia." Tanaka brought up a fist, shielding his hamsters. "If you'd gotten your hands on my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, your body would be incinerated by hellfire!"

Nanami looked at the creatures fondly. "But are the hamsters going to be okay without food?"

"How kind of you to ask. Fortunately, the flowers blooming in Strawberry House's indoor park are cursed flowers from hell's garden...As long as those seeds are there, they shall not lose a single hit point."

Sonia smiled at him. "I am relieved to hear that."

Nidai caught his fist with his palm. "Now then, let's listen to everyone's reports and see what you guys found!"

_Well, if they said they didn't find anything...but I guess we can hear what they have to say._

Komaeda's hand swung out, gesturing to the guys. "Is it fine if Tanaka, Kuzuryu, Nidai, and I represent our teams and give the reports?"

They agreed and Tanaka went first. "Kehehehe...Hmph, rejoice mongrels. I've discovered something that you fiends will be happy to hear about." He smirked at the mechanic. "Soda...and you lowly humans, fall to your knees and show your gratitude to me, the Overlord of Ice of the Destroyed World of Death! Feast your eyes on this!" He pulled out a motor from his pocket. "Fuhahahahaha! Behold! A motor! It's a ship part!"

_As I suspected...for a toy._

Soda flinched back. "Th-That's just a radio-controlled toy!"

"Let me tell you this. It's a little old story..." He crossed his arms, smiling into his scarf. "I was born as a result of a union between a human and a demon, and my existence was shunned by both races. Perhaps it's because nobody has ever bought me a toy before, but I believe this is truly remarkable."

Soda continued to glare in Tanaka's direction. "...I'm not asking about that! You mean the ship part you found was just some radio-controlled toy?!"

Monokuma popped up, chiding them for believing in him, then vanished again. Soda was rendered speechless. Kuzuryu was next, and he said what Hajime suspected, that the second floor matched the second floor of Strawberry House, just inverted in green.

Komaeda followed afterwards. "Now then, allow me to give you all a brief report. Since I'm the one who made this discovery, it's just as important as I am."

"So it's really important?" Hajime asked.

"Which means, it's not important at all. The statue outside commemorates one of the victims of the killing school life, although we don't know if it was made before or after her death."

Kuzuryu sighed. "You're right, that was pretty worthless information."

Komaeda glanced right back at Hajime, smirking. "Heh, told you so."

_You don't have to be that smug about it._

"I guess I'm next!" Nidai laughed, his body beeping and lighting up. "We examined the archive on the third floor, but it was filled with stuff about Monokuma."

Nanami shuddered. "Then it looks like we don't ever need to go in there. Ever."

"Gahahaha! True, but we also found a lost child!" He paused, looking for something. "Huh? Where'd she go?"

He called out for Monomi, and she appeared. "H-Hello..."

Hajime glanced at Komaeda, eyes smiling. Nanami just glared in their direction, crossing her arms, seeing right through them. _It...it's just a joke...we won't really destroy her..._

Owari drooled, thinking she may have rabbit meat inside, but was quickly disappointed. Nanami looked at everyone. "Um...that was the last report, right? Then is it okay if I go now? About the structure of this Funhouse...I've come to a conclusion." She gestured to both doors. "The Grape Tower that we're in currently and the Strawberry Tower we were in earlier...I think they're actually the same building."

_Yeah, I think that's true._

Komaeda said, "I see...what makes you think that?"

"...Their positions. If we put the maps next to each other like this..." She took out the floor plans, showing everybody. "Then you see that Grape House fits on the left, and Strawberry House fits on the right, with the tower connecting both of them. That also matches what Monokuma says about the elevator moving horizontally, and the pictures on these doors."

Komaeda whisked a finger upwards. "If that's the case, it would mean that Strawberry House is beyond that door with the strawberry image on it."

She said, "As well as the opposite, the grape door that was at Strawberry Tower would lead to Grape House. Meaning, we opened the Grape Hall's door when we came in here. Meaning, depending on which door we use, this tower changes to either Strawberry or Grape Tower."

Hajime nodded. "You're talking about the lights and the prints changing."

Owari tilted her head, clearly not getting it. Komaeda sighed. "You didn't notice? The colors are just lights on the floor being shined on the wall. By reflecting a colored light onto a white wall, it makes it look like the wall color has changed."

Nanami pointed to the floor. "The print on the floor changes too, probably because the floor is just a screen and the picture is being projected from beneath the floor. In fact, when you look at it closely, it's not a picture that was actually drawn on the floor..."

Komaeda looked at the open door. "Which means when you look at the other side of the Grape Hall door that we used to come in here..."

Nanami answered, "Yep, the grape picture should actually be on there."

Soda brought both fists up. "Then all we gotta do is confirm it right? If we can close that door from the other side..."

"Mmmm..." She shook her head. "That might be impossible."

Soda clutched his beanie. "Impossible, why...?"

"When we entered this tower, we had to wait a little while for the door to open. Plus, when we all left Strawberry Tower last time, it's door was fully opened but now it's closed." She paused in thought, then said, "I think that the doors to the tower are designed so that only one can open at a time. I mean...if both doors opened at the same time, we'd easily find out that both towers are the same building. If that happens, it wouldn't be a Funhouse anymore, right?"

"Then the reason it took a while to open," Komaeda said as he tapped his chin, "was because it was waiting for Strawberry Hall's door to close...I see, that makes a lot of sense!" He smiled at them again. "But this is a very important problem, so isn't it better if we test it out? For example, we should leave something behind here, and we'll all go to Strawberry Tower. If it's still there, we can conclude that they're the same building, right?"

Hajime said, "Want me to stay, then?"

Nidai clashed his fists together. "Hold on, that's impossible. There's a sensor preventing that. Don't you guys feel it...? There are countless sensors plastered all over the tower's walls and floors. My guess is that these sensors can probably detect any movement within the tower."

Nanami hummed to herself. "And when it reacts, it prevents the door from opening...I knew there'd at least be something like that..."

Komaeda looked at Nidai. "By the way, how good _is_ that sensor's performance?"

"It seems that it can even detect your heartbeats and breathing patterns."

"Then..." Kuzuryu said, giving up. "It'd be completely impossible for someone to stay behind."

Komaeda replied, "But what about Nidai? You don't have a heart, right?"

The robot clanged his chest. "I have a motor running inside me, it's as good as any human heart..."

"But if you're in sleep mode, that function will come to a stop too, effectively making you completely silent and immobile."

"Sheesh, yeah the sensor won't detect me but...do you need to go that far to test it? I won't tolerate any robo-prejudice!"

"...Sorry, you're right," Komaeda said sheepishly.

"Plus, once I enter sleep mode, I will not regain consciousness until my switch is pressed again, or my chest alarm goes off. I'm a little concerned about being left alone in that state."

Sonia crossed her arms. "It is far too dangerous, even as an experiment! It is possible that we might violate the laws of robotics!"

_No, I think those laws are for robots, not us..._

Nanami wondered aloud, "Hey, then why don't we just use this?" She took out her student handbook. "I'll leave this here, and we'll all move over to Strawberry Tower, and if by chance, the handbook is still there, we can safely say that the two towers are the same, right?"

Hajime nodded. "Let's try it."

She placed her handbook down, and the students made their way back to Strawberry Hall, Tanaka using the power of his Supernova Silver Fox, San-D, to click the panel opening the door, but it stayed shut. Nanami tilted her head. "Mmm...Just as I thought, it's taking a while to open."

Komaeda glanced at her. "Considering what we discussed earlier, it should be opening after determining that there's no one inside and after closing the other door..."

Just then, a loud beep sounded from the other side of the door, and it opened. The handbook was on the floor, but the Usami logo faced them. The students agreed that Nanami was correct.

_There's no doubt that this is the same building, but her handbook was facing the same direction as when we left...what does this mean...?_

He met Komaeda's gaze as the other boy sighed. "But...this also means that we have no idea where the exit is...Well, I guess that can't be helped. There's no way we'd actually find it that easily." He chuckled. "Anyway, I'm surprised! I can't believe you already uncovered a secret like this. As expected of Nanami, you're truly amazing. Normally, all you do is stare into space, but at times like this you really pull through for us."

She stared back, saying nothing, looking a bit...worried. Nidai soon wondered about the lack of a curfew announcement, especially since his internal clock indicated it was past 10:00 pm. The bear appeared, declaring that the announcements were on hiatus, before fading from existence again. Nanami yawned. "I'm starting to feel sleepy after hearing that..."

Komaeda said, "Since we don't have food...it might be better if we rest and conserve our energy. But for now, let's just decide our room assignments. Each house has five guestrooms, so we should first decide who's going to stay in which house."

"Hmmm..." She stifled another yawn and said, "Why don't we make things simple and split them between the boys and the girls?"

They all agreed, and the girls picked Grape House, leaving the boys to divvy up rooms by rock paper scissors. A fierce battle began, Soda using his mechanical knowledge to predict Nidai's throw, Tanaka's hamsters wielding the power of Ugolino's bite to force his enemies into a pitiful defeat. Hajime, unfortunately, lost every match as Komaeda just smiled. "Ah, sorry. I ended up winning so easily."

_Of course he did._

Tanaka smugly wrapped his hamsters close to him. "Kehehehehe...So I take second place. That's fine, I was getting bored of always being on top."

They took the two deluxe rooms, leaving Nidai in the standard room, and Soda and Kuzuryu in the two crummy rooms. The mechanic grumbled. "Tch, at least it's better than rooming with _someone."_

 _Oh! Yeah, that...could work? But...no, it's probably..._ An image emerged in his mind, of waking up, blinking away sleeping eyes, yawning next to---

Hajime glanced at Komaeda. "Well, actually the deluxe beds are big enough for two people...Uh, I mean we could easily just sleep on opposite ends, right? If...If you want to, that is, Komaeda?"

His face matched the red of the walls as a fist flew over his heart. "Wh-Wha...?!"

Soda pointed at both of them. "Out of the question, the two most suspicious people together for that long each night?! Who knows what terrible plots you'd scheme..."

_We wouldn't! Well, they wouldn't be terrible ones..._

Hajime's eyes fell to the floor. "Oh, but I guess it's too much, huh? I'll just...I can sleep in the lobby anyway. It's fine."

Komaeda looked like he was about to protest, but Nanami said, "Hinata, you can just use one of our extra rooms."

Sonia politely smiled at him. "There's a standard room and a crummy room left, you're welcome to use either one."

"Hey!" Soda blurted, "Y-You can't do that, either! He might be the traitor, you know...?"

Sonia scowled at him. "What are you saying?"

"We...haven't doubted Hinata at all," Nanami said, smiling at Hajime.

Even Owari uttered, "Like, I don't think he'd try to trick us."

Komaeda awkwardly chuckled for a slow minute. "...Heh, it seems that you're the only one who thought Hinata is...suspicious."

Soda glared at Komaeda. "Really? Of all people, you're gonna say that!? YOU'RE REALLY GONNA SAY THAT!?"

Hajime sighed. "Then thanks, I'll use the leftover standard room, if that's okay."

Nanami and Sonia both nodded, and everyone left to their rooms for the night.

* * *

Hajime yanked the bed sheets away, and stood up, shivers rolling down his body. _Is it morning...? There aren't any windows anywhere, this is seriously going to fuck up our sense of time..._

He went outside to the lounge, checking the time, and noticed that Sonia already put up their portraits on all their doors. _It's 9:00 am..._ He sighed, gripping his forehead, exiting the lounge. _We can last three weeks without food, but water..._ He left to the restrooms downstairs, leaning on the walls. Its dark interior was calming, and he slowly exhaled as he turned on the tap and drank the water down. _Thankfully, it seems that the bear missed this._

Still, his hunger gnawed on his stomach lining as his feet carried him back to the hallway. _I need to check if what I saw yesterday is true..._ The black and white grapes danced in front of him as he pressed and pressed on the grape panel, but the door refused to open. _Damn, is someone inside Strawberry Tower...?_ He lifted himself from the wall, pushing himself down the hallway back towards the elevator. These doors opened, and he was alone in the moving puzzle box.

_It's...it's only been a day without food...why is it affecting me...this badly...?_

His feet swayed as the doors opened into the red room, and he slowly stumbled into Strawberry Hallway with its swirling berries, but its door was open, so he immediately entered the tower. _Huh...?_

"Komaeda...? Ah, are we thinking the same thing again?"

The green-grey student sat on the floor, back against the wall, leaning on one knee. He glanced at Hajime. "Welcome Hinata."

Hajime snorted and joined him, sitting by the wall, mimicking Komaeda's pose. He relaxed his tense muscles, trying to concentrate on breathing, on the floating colors on the wall, on anything but food and his hunger. "What're you welcoming me for?"

"Well, you're staying at Grape House...it feels like you're a guest here."

"Hmm...so I guess you could say I'm visiting your home, then?"

"A house visit? I'm so honored! This'll be the first one I've had from a friend..."

"If you go to Grape House, then it'll be my first one, too."

Komaeda paused, turning his head to fully look at Hajime. His eyes lingered on Hajime's face, dipping downwards as he said, "I don't believe that. Almost everyone on this island is friends with you, I can't believe you had trouble making them before this."

Hajime looked down at his folded hands. "It...it wasn't that, it was...I just didn't bother to. There wasn't anyone..." He sighed. "No, it's more like, I just didn't fit in anywhere..."

Komaeda stared blankly at him.

"I..." He clenched his hands, looking back at Komaeda. "I knew people wouldn't understand...how I feel. And I couldn't _deal_ with their...ordinariness."

_Walking to school everyday...hearing their insignificant problems...just remembering that tedium is giving me a migraine._

Komaeda's sharp eyes pierced him unsympathetically as he smiled. "Because it reminded you of yourself?"

"...Y-Yeah. And of course, anyone with a modicum of talent...there's no way they would be friends with me. But..." His hand gripped his forehead again, hard. "I-I guess...that changed when I found out my...talent...?"

His hand pressed his head until the strands of a growing headache disappeared. He then sighed, and noticed Komaeda still staring at him, waiting for it to pass. Hajime nodded, and Komaeda said, "You know Hinata, sometimes...I feel like you have a truly amazing talent. One that will shine a bright light onto this dim world. But...other times...No, from the start, I've never felt the unique aura that exists in those who have talent from you. Even now, I only detect the scent of a miserable bystander...just like me."

"Miserable, huh? I haven't felt miserable. Not when I'm with you...or the others."

"That doesn't change the sentiment. You're still someone who watches from the sidelines, unable to change anything..."

"And that's a contradiction, I saved your life with Tsumiki's help, didn't I?"

Komaeda shrugged, bumping his head slightly against the wall. "She probably could've done it alone, and regardless, I'm a no-good waste of space. Saving my life is meaningless."

_Jeez, that was such a resounding thank you..._

The other boy glanced back at him with a softer smile than usual. "But...even if we never find out what your talent is, you shouldn't worry. You're definitely someone who embodies hope."

Hajime wanted to laugh, to think that this was how Komaeda would try to cheer him up. "Now you're contradicting yourself. I mean, you can't believe someone like that could be hope."

Komaeda hunched forwards a bit as he said, "...Don't you think it's remarkable when someone ordinary, boring, with absolutely no talents or other worth can overcome the odds and win against despair? Of course, like you, I usually don't bother with them since they so often disappoint me in the end. But...I don't think _you_ will..." He gestured outwards even more. "And, that's assuming we don't find out your talent. Monokuma did say our profiles were here, so I'm sure we'll find it eventually."

"Y-Yeah..."

_Speaking of things that we need to find out..._

Hajime noticed the floor plans by the other boy's shoes. "What were you doing in here, anyway?"

"Well..." Komaeda leaned his head back, staring at the dark abyss above. "I can't believe how huge this tower is...It seems like it could stretch upwards forever, right?"

Hajime swallowed, and on the fifth attempt, teared his eyes away from the lines of Komaeda's throat to answer, "You can just say you also noticed that Nanami's handbook was facing the wrong direction when we found it here. Or rather, it was in the same position as when we left it, meaning...Grape Tower...should be above us...?"

"Heh, I thought having the doors marked like this was suspicious. After all, it is a Funhouse...it wouldn't be right if it went with the obvious suggestion."

"Then...the maps?"

"I was thinking before about what Monokuma told us. You know, about the fabled octagon?"

Hajime sat up straight, crossing his legs. He slid the maps closer to him. "Ah, I see...Grape House is much bigger than Strawberry House, so then Grape Tower is probably below us. And if we position the maps like this, and if what Monokuma said is true..." He overlay the map of Strawberry House on top of Grape House's, matching the towers and elevator doors, the light from below illuminating both floor plans.

Komaeda turned to him. "I'm curious, Hinata...think you can find the elusive octagon?"

Hajime envisioned the plans in 3D, but, "Hmm...the way it is right now, I can't find any octagons from any angles, not without ignoring things like the lounges or restrooms." He glanced up at him. "And even if we add in the elevator, he said we could only reach the octagon from the Final Dead Room so...?"

Komaeda sighed. "It's likely that these maps are hiding the truth. He wants us to play his game, not guess it like this."

"Yeah...he didn't say it was a room either, it could just be a piece of decoration, like a pedestal or something." Hajime left the maps alone and joined Komaeda in staring at the churning darkness above. "So if this is also an elevator...you think there's a way for it to move up from here?"

He scoffed. "The exit's probably in the other one...if there even is one..."

"But then how'd he get us in here? There has to be one somewhere."

"We've seen all that he can do. I wouldn't put it past him to lock us inside and seal up the exit until one of us kills someone."

"But...that's..."

_Is there really no hope in finding an exit...?_

Komaeda's head softly banged against the wall again. "Yep. Nothing to do, but wait..." He laughed, looking back at Hajime. "But this is only despair we have to overcome! That's nothing compared to everyone's bright hope!"

"That's true, we can focus on surviving here, instead..."

_So for the unforeseeable future, we're all just stuck in this hideous place until..._

He let his mind follow the pale dotted lights floating into the black on the wall, the slowly pulsing oranges dimming into pinks and burnt golds as they rose upwards. _Yeah...out of all the rooms, this is definitely the best one to stay in..._ He shut his eyes for a second, the afterimages blinding his eyelids. _At least, if you don't blink..._

The waves of lights soon started repeating themselves, the pattern becoming all too clear. The same dot appeared on the wall, followed by the same sequence of whitish specs and shades of umber as they followed the same path upwards, swallowed up by the same roiling blackness. _Heh, what was that...? Only two different textures moving up? Komaeda's right, he is losing creativity._

Still, it was...comforting, to be able not to think, and just let his mind have fun making pictures with the dots, connecting them with each other, playing around with them. Of course, it couldn't hold his attention for that long. So he began attempting to catch the floaters in his eyes, the little swirls of cell-looking organisms faintly moving around. But even that randomness became predictable. He sighed, and glanced back at Komaeda.

_Much more interesting..._

Unfortunately, the afterimages prevented him from seeing anything other than a barrage of inverted colors. He continued to stare as Komaeda turned to him. He blinked, but they were still there. "I'm trying to remove the light stains from my eyes..."

"Ah, I see...this is quite annoying."

"Yeah..."

He shut his eyes again, but Komaeda said, "You shouldn't do that, it only strengthens it."

He opened them, and stared at him, barely blinking as the colors merged back to normal. His eyes dipped lower, catching on a small cut on the side of Komaeda's mouth, a little pinprick of a fading bruise, where he kissed---his eyes flashed back up, higher, and he swallowed, trying to shut his damn mind down. _He...he immediately got what was weird yesterday, he always just does that, just gets it, and...and he shares bits of it, always challenging, always pushing, always...looking at me, at us with such hope, and while I have that from him, I...I want to..._ His hands clammed up, his collar too tight, heart racing, but his eyes betrayed him, tasting the bruise there, drying his mouth up, but he teared them away for a second again, hoping he didn't---hoping he noticed. He noticed Komaeda tilting his head forward, a brief flicker of his teeth as Hajime stayed there, immobile, suffocating.

 _H-Huh...? Th-This silence..._ It was too sharp, too loud, Komaeda's soft breath close enough to taste. He was forced to swallow again, his tongue laying heavy in his mouth. _I-I should try...and say something, right...?_

Komaeda inhaled, then inched towards him and Hajime suppressed a flinch, torn between moving closer and staying still, but he couldn't think over the loud ringing of his heart, so he waited but maybe if he just moved a smidge _more---_

Komaeda whispered, "Hinata...?"

"Y-Yeah...?"

_Oh god, is he going to...?_

Komaeda slowly stood up, leaning on the walls as Hajime's bewildered eyes followed him. "I'm going to get some water."

"Oh."

"Yep, so...I'll see you later...?"

"Oh, uh..." Hajime scratched his hair. "You're not coming back...?"

"What?...Do you want me to?"

"W-Well, yeah...I mean, if...if it's alright with you?"

Komaeda slightly smiled, looking away from him. "Hmm...it's not like I have anything else to do, so of course I'll accept your gracious invitation!"

"O-Okay, then...um I'll see you soon?"

The other boy nodded, and stumbled out of the tower. When he was gone, Hajime immediately folded his head in his hands. _Yahrgh! Note to self: I'm a complete mess..._

_Although...I wonder if it's really okay for me to monopolize his time like this...I mean, there's probably a lot of other things he could do, like..._

_Well, okay...there really isn't anything to do here, but still...There's probably other people he wants to talk to. Or...Or I don't know, something other than staring at walls all day long._

He sighed, and went back to muttering to himself, failing to get rid of the memory of his heat from his head, which caused him to blush again and hide his face forever. He eventually heard footsteps and two voices at the end of the hall. _That sounds like Komaeda, and...Nanami...?_

Komaeda returned, dragging his hair back with both hands. He leaned against the wall by Hajime, sinking back down. "Nanami has kindly invited you to join the rest of them in Grape House lounge."

"What?"

Komaeda crossed his arms. "All the other magnificent Ultimates are there, playing card games...if you want to join them."

"You're not going...?"

"No, I couldn't disturb them with my presence..." He sighed. "Plus, we know what the outcome would be. Playing against me is seriously not fun."

_Well, he does win easily, but..._

"Isn't it pretty fun to see how you win, though? And we don't have to play games that rely only on luck, like..."

_Wait, I think he'd dominate us in poker, too, regardless of his luck..._

Komaeda shook his head. "I'd rather not gather all that good luck on something inconsequential, anyway."

"...Huh? But, wouldn't any luck just be centered in the game? If it's like what you said before..."

"My luck...relates to each other. That doesn't mean it's always straightforward like that."

"Oh...I see..."

Komaeda huffed, not believing him. "Anyway, you should get going. You wouldn't want to miss such a hopeful event, right?"

Hajime mulled it over, but..."If you're not going, then there's no point if I show up. And...honestly, I think Soda needs to relax more. I don't think he will, if I go..."

"So you'd rather stay here and do nothing? That makes no sense."

"It's not nothing. Well, even if it is...you're still here." He noticed Komaeda frown more, and added, "And I guess I'd rather not be around that much loud noise right now. I don't think my brain can handle it..."

Komaeda nodded, finally agreeing with him, and relaxed back into leaning on his knee, staring at Hajime.

_I wonder..._

The slowly throbbing reds crawled up the walls, lighting Komaeda from behind, his hair alternating between cream and pink. The shadows darkened his strands as his hands shifted his curls away from his face.

_There's still so much I don't know about him, that he doesn't know about me..._

"Hinata...? I think...you already know this, but..." Komaeda's hair shuffled again as his head inched closer. "Can I ask you something?"

"You just did, but of course you can. What is it?"

"...What do you think luck is?"

_For most people, it's just random chance...an uncontrollable, unlikely event happening to them. But for him, his luck..._

"It's...absolute power."

"Heh, I knew you'd understand. That's precisely it..." A spiteful curve formed on his mouth. "Regardless, it's a power that has terrible results due to the fact that I can't wield it with my own will..."

"But you still try to control it, right? Hence why you avoid so many different situations."

"...Yeah. Though, you know that's just...I can never avoid it completely. No matter how much I guard myself."

"But..." Hajime bit the inside of lip. "You can control what initiates the cycle of luck, instead of waiting for it to happen to you. And that way, you can at least _direct_ it, right?"

"Oh? You've been paying attention to me that closely, to figure that out? Wow, Hinata, you're making me feel all tingly inside!"

_T-Tingly...? W-What...?!_

Komaeda smiled. "Well, that bit of control is all I have left. And even so, it's never quite the result I expect. It's always so surprising to see what it gives me."

_I know he's speaking from experience, but..._

"Komaeda, I do...believe you, but it's still so...weird. I mean, isn't more likely that you just attract improbable events? And they only seem to affect each other in hindsight?" Hajime sighed at himself. "No, I meant that...I'd like to know more about how you came to see it this way...if you're willing to share...?"

"I'll talk to you about anything you want! Even something as boring as myself." His eyes lit up as he began being playful again. "Um...I guess it all started the moment I came into this world..."

"Wait, you can't possibly remember that, right?"

"Heh, good point. Then, let's see...where should I start...? I know!" Hajime spotted a dim, roiling whorl creep into Komaeda's eyes as his movements became more frantic. "This happened when I was in elementary school. One day, my family and I were planning to board an airplane from the San Cristobal airport."

_San Cristobal?_

"Is that in...South America...?"

"Yep! We were on such a lovely vacation in the Galapagos Islands. But surprise, surprise! After we boarded the plane, we got hijacked!"

_What?!_

"Don't you think that was the worst luck? But surprisingly, a meteorite fell at exactly the right time. Well, for a meteorite, it was only the size of a closed fist. Anyway, that falling meteorite struck the hijacker and prevented any further problems. Don't you think that's an amazing act of good luck?"

_Wait...there was only one hijacker? And...a meteorite?! Really?!_

"But..." Komaeda's smile cut into his cheeks. "The meteorite also hit my parents, and they died instantly. What a terrible act of bad luck...but in the end, I obtained my freedom and an immense inheritance. See? It was really amazing good luck all along right!?"

"H-Hold on, not only did they get hit, but they all died from it?! That's..."

"Ahhaahahahah! It doesn't matter how unlikely it is, it happened anyway! You can look it up after you escape from here, it was all over the world news for months after..." Komaeda clutched his arms, bunching up his green jacket. "Ah, there was also this one time in middle school when I was kidnapped by a murderer."

_I-I can't...murderer...?_

"Man, don't you think that's just the worst luck? But coincidentally, I found a lottery ticket inside the trash bag she stuffed me in. After I was safely taken in by the police, I checked out the numbers without giving it much thought...And surprise! I won 300 million dollars! Even I was amazed by this splendid act of good luck!"

"...I...I see...I-I guess, it does seem like the starting event triggered all that luck after..." Hajime's eyebrows scrunched, his mind preventing him from concentrating on anything else but the common thread in those events. "...In everything you've said...why...why does it all end in money as the last result...?"

"Ah, I apologize. I can't even tell my own past correctly...I'm so incompetent." He slowly sighed. "Well, let's see...there was the time I was forced to go on a cruise with my high school classmates. But a sudden earthquake caused a huge tsunami to hit us, and the ship capsized...How unfortunate for everyone. Of course, I alone somehow washed up on a deserted island."

"...You were on another island before this one...?!"

"Ahaha! Exactly! I was there for weeks, but I never ran out of food. In fact, no matter what I did, I always found something! Ripe coconuts, fish that always bit, lakes filled with fresh water...even a casket filled with priceless gems. And I was only saved because a massive oil leak nearby caused people to finally notice my island!"

_...What the hell...?_

"Hmhmmhm...also, one time I was planting a small tree in my backyard...when suddenly, I was struck by lightning even though the sky was perfectly clear..."

"What! But..."

"You don't have to look that scary, I was completely fine! Although my house caught fire, and the firefighters arrived too late to save it...But surprise! Underneath the burnt floor, I found a suitcase containing the lost writings of a famous dead author. Wasn't that so fortunate?"

_This...this is getting too crazy to follow..._

"And another time, I found a rare flower blooming in the middle of the street. It burst from a crack in the asphalt, and I just had to get a closer look, but...that was when a truck barreled down the road, despite us being in a quiet, residential neighborhood. But don't worry! My dog pushed me out of harms way. Ah, he did get hit instead, and soon died! That was also why my parents took me to the Galapagos islands in the first place."

He tried to process everything, but couldn't---it was too crazy, too unbelievable. He found himself saying, "...Y-You're right, I can definitely see how you believe in good luck always coming in the end..."

Komaeda scoffed. "You're a bad liar, Hinata. You don't have to pretend you understand. You probably think I'm just making this all up, right? A pitiful attempt to gain your sympathy."

"No! No, I..." He raked his nails across his head, inhaling a deep breath and exhaling it just as slowly. "I don't understand, and I don't...I don't know what to think, but I believe you, but...I mean, seriously? What the hell is your life?!"

"Well, it's..."

"It's irrational! It makes no sense, and I can't understand it, but..."

_The one thing I do know..._

"You went through all that, and you still believe in hope. No, because you went through that, you can only believe in hope, right?"

Komaeda nodded. "Yeah."

"So...that's all that matters. No matter what, you'll always believe in hope."

Komaeda paused, a subdued swirl still in his pupils, but it was slowly fading. He went back to gazing at the colors dying into black upon the walls. "That's so simple."

"Maybe so, but some things can just be simple, can't they?"

He softly huffed. "Not always, not this."

Hajime shifted himself, so their shoulders touched. "Then we're disagreeing, again." Komaeda just shook his head in response. And Hajime was left with the side of his face, the slow warmth spilling from his shoulder. He exhaled.

_Everything that has happened to him, that keeps happening to him, his talent...I can't began to even...it's incomprehensible. It takes and gives so much...he's stuck in something absolutely absurd. But he still thinks...how...? Just from hearing it, it seems so easy to think of it like the opposite, to believe despair follows hope, to think the good can't offset the bad, but he still believes in it, in hope, but...how...?_

He pressed the palms of his hands to his eyes, dragging them away just as slowly as he continued to wrap his mind around Komaeda's words.

 _I...I can't believe he thinks we're even remotely similar, not with everything, with what he said, with what happened to him and how he's so..._ But Hajime looked at him again. _And yet...at times, I feel like...there is something, something...alike in the way we think, in what we notice, in how we react. Like in the moment, there's no one else but him who gets it the way I do, who feels it the way I do. But...still...I...he's so different...we're so different, and I feel like...I just can't understand how he thinks the way he does sometimes, how he is the way he is sometimes. Both of us, we...we don't have the time for that, not until we escape from here..._

_But, no...that's an excuse, isn't it? I...I may not ever understand him, he's still so contradictory, so foreign, and yet...I still want to...If I can't understand him, I want to know him. I want to learn him. And...then I must really confront it, huh? What he told me...why he told me...Heh, there's always so many layers to what he does, so many motivations and reasons pulling at each other, it's one of the things I...I...really...about him, I..._

He smirked. _I'm distracting myself again, aren't I?_ He relaxed his hands, and forced his mind to replay Komaeda's words, to focus on what he didn't say.

_He's calm in the face of trauma because of his unwavering faith, but he still tries so hard to avoid it all, and when he can't...he creates the chance for hope to prevail, so at least, in the end...it can be worth something, it can all mean something._

_But when he's not in a cycle...when he's in between those incomprehensible chains of events, he's always so cautious of himself, so fearful of everything as long as the risk isn't justified, and that means...it...it isn't like what he said, before, not entirely..._

_It means...why he told me, it means...I really need to consider...I need to confront the possibility that I could get caught in it. And if I am...? If that's it? I...my hopes...I still can't give up on them, but I...I..._ Images of the school flashed in his mind, the faceless students in its uniform. _I still can't give up on Hope's Peak, I still need...to find confidence in myself, to become someone...stronger. To be around those with talent, and...finally...?_

_Although...if our memories were taken away, then...don't I already have...that? Even right now...at least, I think...I have a little bit, a small little bit of...faith and...friends. And right now, it's not...enough without him...it's so lacking when he's gone...so repetitive. So I don't want to...and I know I will regret it if I don't, so...isn't it worth it? To stay, isn't it worth it? We may not even have much longer, so despite that, or---because of that...isn't it worth it? Whatever may happen to me, to us...isn't he worth it?_

Hajime closed his eyes, breathing into his folded palms. "Komaeda, your luck..."

"Hmmm? Hinata, you're lips look so dehydrated. Have you been drinking enough water?"

"W-What?" Hajime opened his eyes, startled. "O-Oh, yeah...I guess I can go do that..."

"Yep, you really should. I don't want to have you fainting on me, that would be so bothersome."

Hajime rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I won't. So...I'll be back."

He immediately stood up, and fainted.

* * *

Hajime's eyes cracked open, and he gazed blearily around. His legs were walking on a dark grey, endless block. He couldn't move his head around, but the sky was blue, so so blue and square and it was raining bright blue squares, but he couldn't move except to walk forward faster. The buildings of first island kept passing him by: the volcano, the market, the hotel, the ranch, the airport...but they were small and grey and distant. He was supposed to be going faster, to catch up to him, but who was him? He almost tripped on a pixelated palm tree, which finally stopped his legs from moving, but from his left, or no, from behind, someone streamed past him, someone in green and red and grey, and his legs involuntarily moved to keep up. _Oh...he's him._

The someone slowed his pace, allowing Hajime to come closer and closer, but he just wasn't fast enough to catch him. _I...I need his...his name, he'll stop if I have his name. But what was it...? Did...did I ever even have it in the first place...?_

His hand peeked out from his jacket, tantalizing Hajime to drag him down and make him stop, but no matter how hard he reached out, he was just a smidge too far, too fast, walking leisurely ahead of him, always ahead of him. _No...! I know it, I know I know it, it's...it begins with an...N?_

"Na..."

_Crap, he's getting farther away...! Goddammit, why won't he just stop?!_

"Nagi..."

The someone glanced back, a smile plastered on his face except it was just a line, just four little squares smudged next to each other, but Hajime knew it was a smile. He was growing farther and farther away, except the distance between them remained the same, always the same, always the same as the squares rained down upon them, always the same as the sky changed blues. But it was weird because he heard the flaps of beady wings flapping...above? Behind?

"Just, please...Nagit--"

A flying bunny wrapped its paws around his someone, as Hajime finally grasped the corner of his jacket, but it slipped from his hands as the bunny flapped and flew and carried him away. _N-No...!_

"Nagito! You, no...please come back...!"

He ran and ran forward, chasing the image of him in the air laughing, as he vanished away. He bit the one line of his mouth, and quickened his pace, listening and listening for his footsteps from behind since he knew he would be back, he always returned back.

_And this time...I'm not letting him go...!_

* * *

"I'mmm...nlenmhm...go..."

He reached out, and grasped something soft. His pillow was warm, which was much better than last night, so he moved closer to it, laying his body against its side as his arm moved inside the pillowcase, reaching upwards for more warmth. The crook of his elbow fit perfectly against its edge, and he muffled his breaths against its salty threads. The A/C was on and it stirred the hairs on the back of his neck rhythmically.

_Huuhh...this is so much...more comfortable than yesterday..._

He yawned and accidentally scraped his teeth on its softness, and he felt guilty so he gently nuzzled himself further in as an apology, but his pillow gasped, "Hhh...h...hh..." in response.

He calmed it down by moving the hand inside the case in circles and circles, but sometimes his nails dug in, which caused the A/C to huff on his neck again, before its coolness lulled him back to sleep, which lasted for so long, for so many hours, but it was cut with a sudden---

"Puhuhu! Wahahahahaha! How fresh, the pangs of youth! Hey, hey, you know your..."

Hajime covered his face as best as he could, awkwardly smothering his ears with the hand he was sleeping on. The horrid voice became illegible, but its tones were still there, and he hated how his pillow flinched and became rigid in shock. "Goddnmnt, go the fuck'way."

"Hmph, fine...ignore me. Just know that if you guys aren't there by seven on the dot...you're both dead!"

He heard the sound of that thing disappearing and finally relaxed, wrapping both arms and legs around his pillow, but he felt it exhale and say, "H...Hin...ata...?"

"Mmmphhrgggh."

"W-We...should go...Hhhhe's going to..."

He just smushed his head against it, and his lips felt it inhale sharply.

"We...only hhave f-five minutes...until ssseven."

There was a hand against his chest, pulling him away and he blinked. _Wh...wha...?_

"Aah, yyou're fi-finally...awake now?"

Komaeda was in front of him, next to him, on the bed, an inch away, and Hajime was holding him, one hand up his shirt, exposing the corner of his waist, their legs twisted together. There was drool on his chest.

"WH-WH-WH-WH-WH...!"

He slipped and recoiled off the bed, slamming hard on the floor as he gasped, "WH-WH-WHAAATTHE...?!"

Komaeda moved on the bed towards him and he froze up more, but the other boy just stepped past him, to the chair, and grabbed his jacket and shoes, putting them on.

"Hinata, we'll be late."

_..._

He shakily tried to stand up, mind still reeling, but it was traitorous and caused him to inadvertently taste the salt on his lips, and he crashed back down blushing hard.

Komaeda glanced back at him, by the door. "...I doubt he was lying about punishing us, so we should hurry."

He nodded, and stood, grabbing his shoes, staring at the floor as his feet moved him to the door, following Komaeda out of Strawberry House.

_Whhhhh...wh...what._

_I...oh god._

He swallowed, looking quickly at him as they waited for the elevator.

_Did...we...really...?_

He pulled in his lips again, and flinched from it, from the warmth of him slowly fading. _Fuck...! What the fuck happened...?! How did I...?_

"I...Komaeda? I'm sorry, I didn't mean...I mean, I don't know...uh, why was I...?"

He saw him unclench his arms from clawing into his jacket. "You fainted."

_Oh, of course...that makes so much sense...?!_

"Well, okay, but...?"

The door opened and they both stepped inside its dim light. Komaeda glared at the grape panel as he pressed it. "I know it's absolutely disgusting to be near me, but it wasn't...safe to leave you there, and I apologize that my weak, useless self wasn't able to carry you anywhere else..."

_He...did he really do all that...? For me...?_

Hajime turned to face him fully. "You didn't have to..." He couldn't help smiling. "Next time, just leave me there."

Komaeda looked at him incredulously. "...You're planning on fainting again?"

"No, but..." He stepped in closer. "Just, if it happens...I don't want you to exert yourself for me. Although, I am...happy that you did. Thank you."

Komaeda gasped, glancing away, but Hajime was close enough to taste it, the scent of citrus and salt. He wanted to chase it back to its origin, wanted to see how much he could get away with if Komaeda allowed him to, but the doors opened, and Komaeda walked around him, leaving for Grape Tower. Hajime sighed and followed him out.

They entered Grape Tower, meeting everyone else there. The bear shrieked at them. "Well well well. Look who finally decided to show! Another minute, and you guys would've been the first victims of this chapter!"

"Whatever, why the hell have you summoned us all here?" Hajime noticed that everyone looked haggard, barely standing on their own.

Monokuma smiled and forced them to participate in his Tai Chi exercise, draining their energy completely. Hajime's legs wobbled and he couldn't feel his hands by the end of it. His hunger hurt his stomach, and his shirt clamped up against his back, sticking to his sweat. The bear ordered them to return here tomorrow morning, and every morning after until the killings began.

_F-Fuck...this...place...!_

The bear laughed at all their misery and vanished again. Owari clutched her stomach, kneeling on the floor. "Guys...I don't think I'm gonna last till tomorrow..."

"E-Enough already..." Soda said, shaking. "H-How much longer...is this going to last...?"

Komaeda just sighed. "Didn't he already say? Until the killing starts..."

Tanaka nodded, standing up, holding himself together. "It seems the plausibility of those words is finally starting to affect us..." He grimaced into his scarf. "If this persists any longer, it wouldn't surprise me if something really did happen."

"I-I don't wanna die..." Soda shook his head, still shaking on the floor. "N-not in a place like this...!" His pink eyes started to coil. "If I'm gonna die in a place like this, I-I might as well...!"

Hajime crawled towards Soda, and grasped his shoulders. "Hey, you don't really think that, right? Just...we all just need to calm down now, okay?"

He shrugged Hajime's hands off. "I can't fucking calm down! There's no food..." His nails scratched the ground. "There's no way to escape...If this goes on, everyone's gonna starve to death..." Soda suddenly flinched away from Hajime, eyes in shock. "Wait! Are you telling us to just wait until we starve to death!?"

"Waiting...that's the only thing we can do right now." Hajime glanced around at all the tired faces, hoping that they would believe him. "We just need to wait until Monokuma gets bored of this, and releases us. If none of us gives in, he's bound to do something else, right?"

Komaeda wearily answered, "That 'something else' is likely to be worse than this..."

"But at least...he'll give us food. He said it himself, none of us has the energy for murder. If he wants us to kill each other, he'll give us food for that..."

"Hmph..." Tanaka shook his head, still frowning. "You're putting too much faith in the devil. We cannot pin all of our hopes on the whims of the mad, that's not the answer!"

"Then what is the answer?! What are we going to do? Waiting...is all we have left...!"

Soda backed away from Hajime further, legs wobbling as he stood up. "I-I got it...you're just saying that because you're the traitor!"

"What?!"

"You're planning to make us all weak...so you can kill us all!"

"That makes no sense, Soda. That's the complete opposite of what I'm saying."

"I don't care! Fess up, you've been secretly getting food from your Future Foundation buddies, haven't you?!" He pointed straight at Hajime. "I bet we can force you to tell us where the exit is. Tell us where they've planted the food!"

Hajime exhaled. "Look, I know it's easier for you to throw all your frustrations at me, instead of trying to _accept_ what we're in right now, but it's not helping any of us." His body sagged. "Soda...it's not helping any of us..."

Nanami nodded. "All this fighting...it's just making us hungrier. So let's just calm down for now..."

Soda looked away sighing. "Fine...you're right." He clutched his beanie, glancing back at Hajime. "I...sorry, Hinata. I just can't accept it though, this can't be it for us..."

Tanaka's scarf fluttered as he walked towards the door. "Waiting...for his nonexistent 'mercy' until we all die, or...waiting for someone to kill someone else before that happens...At any rate, it's a rather difficult situation."

Komaeda soon followed him saying, "Which is the true hope? I'll just follow what everyone else decides..." He looked back at Hajime. "If you're going to choose, you should hurry. The longer we keep waiting, the closer we get to death!"

* * *

They all silently left Grape Tower, no one finding any energy within themselves to keep arguing. Hajime pressed through the pounding in his head, the wobble in his legs, and made his way to the restroom. He splashed water on his face, took off his shirt, and wiped the sweat off his body. He rested his head against the glass, cooling it down, fogging it with his breath, then knelt down and drank the water, cooling himself. _How much longer is this gonna continue...? It's only the...Second?...Third?...Day...?_

It was too much, and he shrugged his shirt back on and lay himself down on the floor, the faucet still running, the spray hitting him. He closed his eyes for a moment, too weak to do anything else but concentrate on the water draining down. And he lay there against the tile, absorbing its iciness, counting the beat of the drops against his skin. But he knew he was monopolizing the restroom, so he slowly stood up and inched towards the door, putting all his weight against it as he turned the knob, shoving himself out, letting the momentum carry him forward.

He wobbled to the green stairs, crawling up. He looked to his room, and went in, collapsing on the bed for who knew how long, and tried to sleep, but he couldn't shut his mind off. It bombarded him with all the ways they would die waiting, with calculating who would be the first to starve to death, and the next, and the last...and he couldn't stop thinking about it, the probabilities rankling him awake, all too close, too soon. His sheets itched against his skin, and no matter how he turned himself, he wasn't comfortable, he couldn't sleep. His fists clawed against the bed, and he got himself up, leaving the room to find something else to distract himself.

Strawberry House was so far away, though, so he just dragged himself upstairs, crawling and resting every third step. _Maybe there're some clues here, that we overlooked?_ But the horrid floor only had screens of Monokuma, taunting him when he got close, and the only other room was... _His archive...am I really that desperate for distraction...?_

He let his feet carry him to the archive, fighting dizziness with each step, and he rested against the doorframe until he felt stronger, shutting his eyes from the colors. Once the nausea passed, he took a breath, and went inside, and couldn't help but feel lighter as he saw him there again, sitting against one of the many bookshelves in the center of the room, reading. His mind finally clicked back into place, cataloguing the circular room, the display cases placed against the walls, the glittering golden statues of the hideous bear between each shelf, the idiotic portraits of his memorabilia. "Looks like I've found you again, Komaeda."

"Hmm? Hinata? Are you stalking me?" He put what he was reading down, turning towards the door as Hajime stumbled to him.

Hajime scoffed, smiling. "That was you, last time. No, I just thought...we hadn't explored this area, so there might've been something they overlooked?" He sighed. "But that doesn't seem to be the case."

"Yep, there's nothing here but pointless babble." He shoved the book up towards Hajime. "Care to look through it? There might be something useful inside..."

It was covered in poorly drawn crayon, depicting the bear and a salmon. "Uh...I'll leave this one to you." He went to another bookshelf, picking one at random. "'Monokuma's latest work: There's no way my little sister is this incompetent'...Does this mean Monomi?"

Komaeda went back to reading. "That seems right. Maybe there's a clue hidden inside?"

_...I doubt it._

Hajime bent down to him, sitting on the floor, leaning against the same shelf. "You just want me to join you in suffering through this, don't you?"

"There's no need for you to stay here. I'll tell you if I find anything, so you should leave." He looked at Hajime and nudged his head towards the door. "I'm sure you'd rather spend time with someone else, somewhere else."

"Do you want me to go?"

"...No." His eyebrows scrunched as he tilted his head. "But...Hinata, why do you...?" He chewed his lip, looking away. "Actually, don't tell me...the reason doesn't matter. I...I'll just feel grateful for this good luck, thankful that you're even interested in trash like me."

Hajime knocked their knees together, staring straight at him. "Komaeda, I'm interested in you."

The other boy recoiled back against the shelf, the books wavering but not falling down, skin flushed and mouth slightly open.

And Hajime continued. "I mean, how could I not be? You're so..."

"No! D-Don't tell me." Komaeda shut his eyes, exhaling. "Don't tell me the reason. I'd rather believe..."

"Fine, I won't." His lips curved wickedly. "But, you'll be left in the dark, never knowing the answer. Surely someone as curious as you would hate that, right?"

"I can live with it," he murmured, picking up his book again, a sad tinge in his eyes. "It's better this way..."

_Does he really think I won't respond favorably? That I won't tell him, it's because I..._

He studied him, the way his hands grasped his book, each finger a different curve, a different line, a different color and width and wrinkle. He followed his arm to his shoulders, his baggy green jacket highlighting the green of his eyes, highlighting the depth of his throat. He swallowed as he stared at the hard lines of his jaw and the softness of his mouth, his sharp nose and...his eyes, which read the same line over and over again.

_He's pretending to read, isn't he...?_

Hajime silently hummed to himself. _If I can't tell him with words, then...I can show him, can't I? I can try to make him believe, or at least feel..._ "Hey, Komaeda...?" He waited for him to look up, and continued. "It's...kind of cold in here. Would you mind if I...um, if I could be closer to you?"

Komaeda's eyes fell back to the floor. "...I don't mind, but of course you don't really want that, to be near my disgusting self..."

Hajime slowly moved himself closer, making more than their knees touch, moving his leg against him, his waist, his arm, his shoulder, leaning on him. "If I dislike this, I'll let you know. But so far..." He grinned at him. "I don't dislike it. You're very...warm. It's comfortable."

Komaeda swallowed, burying his nose back in the book as if it was a shield. "I-If I can _help_ you in any way, then...that makes me...happy..."

_Heh, that's a start..._

He closed his eyes and finally fell asleep.

* * *

The right side of his face felt flat, numb. Tiny sparks twinged across his body as he awoke to black darkness. He lay on the brown tiled floor, and when he shifted his face, a book fell from his head, open. He saw the shelves again, but was too tired to move, so he stayed there, absorbing the floor's chill, as his eyes searched for Komaeda. He didn't find him.

_I guess...he left._

_Well, it is what I told him to do..._

His hands trembled as he tried to lift himself up, but couldn't, too much effort, too little _strength._ His breath fogged the floor as he sighed, as his mouth dried up, and his vision started to create pictures out of the fractures on the tiles, pictures that stood up, an elephant who walked to a lake and drank, except the lake was also a duck and the elephant its ducklings and they left the brown tile and hopped to the bookshelves, and Hajime tried to catch them, trying to pull them down, but he grasped the wood, and pulled himself up instead as the shelf tilted to meet him, some books falling, but he leaned back against it, and it was fine. He was fine, sitting up, resting against it, clutching it so it wouldn't fall again. He faced the dumb portrait of the bear and his stupid fucking gavel, and he grimaced and turned himself away, and finally looked at the door.

Komaeda leaned against it, hands clasped together, resting his head on his knees. He was breathing softly, quietly, the yellow camera pointed at his face. Hajime wanted to crawl to him but the distance was too far, a lifetime away. So he memorized him, the ripped cuff of his pants against his shoes, the angles of his legs, his wild hair. How the walls caved into him, changing the black and white patterns into curves, changing the columns into circles.

"...Hinata?" Komaeda didn't look up and his body sagged. "When...will you get tired of me?"

_Tired...?_

He was so tired, his arms already gave up, and only his head kept him upright against the bookshelf and even that was slipping back down, and he gave in and let it, and slammed back to the floor, staring at him still. _Tired...?_

"I'm tired..." He slid his arm against the floor, to him. "I'm so tired..." His fingers stuck to the tiles and he dragged himself closer, kicking the ground to get nearer. "You're too far away...it's tiring."

At that, Komaeda finally looked up, mouth closed in a frown. Hajime reached his other heavy hand to him, crawling, kicking. "...Why are you...so...far...?"

His eyes felt too heavy, too blurry, and he closed them, and reached and dragged himself into darkness.

* * *

Hajime stared at the corner of the triangular shelves, placed asymmetrically against the tiles and it irritated him. He huffed, and tilted his head back, bumping it lightly against the display behind him as he looked up at Komaeda.

"How can you even be comfortable up there...?"

Komaeda reclined against the top, one leg hanging down next to Hajime as he bent the other, resting his head against his palm, reading another baffling story. At Hajime's question, he shrugged.

"No seriously, you always act so...creatively, to get what you want. It's...interesting to watch."

Komaeda ignored him, but when he finished reading, he dipped towards Hajime, getting another book from the pile next to him, grazing his hair against him as he leaned back up again. "...That's not me."

"What?!"

"It's not me. I'm dull, too stupid to even think of anything _extraordinary_ like that." He cut Hajime off, flipping a page. "It's just my luck."

Hajime looked at him in disbelief. "...Your luck? That...makes no sense."

"Any time I get an idea...any time I notice something unusual...I'm not doing that." He stopped reading as Hajime covered his book with his hand, still looking at him in utter confusion. "It's my luck that does it, that causes me to see something, to think of something...relevant."

"Okay, what? I mean, even if for a moment that could be true, isn't your luck still you? So it's still you who's brilliant?"

"Heh, no. That doesn't mean I'm smart or anything. It just means I'm _lucky."_

Komaeda lifted the book away, going back to reading and ignoring him again, but Hajime wasn't giving up just yet. "But then you've consistently gotten good luck, since you haven't had any terribly wrong conjectures. Doesn't that break the cyclic nature of your talent?"

"Well..." Komaeda paused, mouth against his fingers as he thought. "I'm sure I'll have a hugely debilitating idea that will severely harm us all." He laughed as Hajime paled a bit. "But don't worry, we just need to wait for the eventual good luck that'll make it right again!"

"...You're completely ridiculous sometimes, you know that? Utterly ridiculous." He shook his head, and added, "It's not your luck, it's you. It's only you who's so vastly...perceptive. I can't believe you're using your _talent_ to justify that you're the opposite." Hajime's eyes widened as he looked back at him, smiling. "Wait...that proves it! See, you just did a completely unconventional mental warping. You can't deny _that_ or blame it on your luck, right?"

Komaeda huffed, rolling his eyes. "...Now who's ridiculous?" And went back to ignoring him.

* * *

"'Huh? I've never seen you before. Were you ever...one of my servants? Hey, if you're my servant, tell me your servant number!'"

Hajime looked down at the cheaply stapled book, written in black expo marker. "So this is the end..."

He stretched his legs out, then sighed against the bookshelf. "I worked so hard...read every last damn quote in this damned thing...But what a waste of time..." He turned and peeked through the gaps in between the books to see if Komaeda was paying attention to him on the other side of the shelf. He wasn't. "Hey, what does 'servant number' even mean?"

"...A servant has no name." Komaeda finally glanced back through the tilted, thin novels, letting Hajime see slivers of his face. "Monokuma probably numbers them."

"So you think he has people helping him? Not just behind the scenes, but...actually on this island, with us?"

He nodded. "We haven't seen any, but that doesn't mean they don't exist..."

"Hmmm..." Hajime thought about creepy servants watching them, hidden from view, refusing to help, no---enjoying their suffering. "That's...unsettling."

"Well, it may not be true. That book was a bunch of nonsense, anyway."

Hajime stared at it, imagining ripping it to shreds. "True." An evil grin emerged on his face.

Komaeda snorted. "You know we can't litter. Or destroy property."

"...You've just ruined my fun." The faint, weak lines of expo marker mocked him. "But I'm not giving up yet!" He folded the book into a tube and hurled it at the framed painting, bringing both down to hide behind the display case. "There, much better now."

Komaeda smiled. "That's still littering, Hinata."

"Heh, if it is, then that means it's trash, right? There's no way he'd admit that, so it isn't littering."

"Hm..." Komaeda's smile turned into a smirk. "You're right! But I wouldn't risk it..." He looked back to his own convoluted mess of a magazine. "At least, not yet..."

"Trust me, it's worth it." Hajime grabbed the next chunk of books from the shelf, choosing the ones beside Komaeda so he could see him better. "We're almost done with this shelf...only...three more to go...?"

"Four."

_Great..._

Hajime began reading again as Komaeda lapsed back into silence. But this new one was all about the many dinners the bear had with his pig friend, detailing the juicy taste of fatty tuna, crispy pork cutlets, and beefy, brothy ramen. His bones hurt and his muscles felt weak from hunger, from so much hunger... _Paper...is edible, isn't it?_

The hollowness of his stomach was killing him, and he tried to distract himself by looking at another novel, but it was also about food, every single one on this shelf was about food and---he picked them all up and harshly shoved them away, scattering the books across the floor.

Komaeda said, "...Are you okay?"

"I...I can't take it anymore, I'm just so hungry..." He spied a magazine made out of printer paper. "...Will it count as destruction if I eat this...?"

"If you're that desperate..." He dug through his jacket for a minute, and Hajime just waited, considering gnawing on the wooden shelf. "Ah! Found it."

"Found what...?" Hajime stared blankly as he pulled out an open, dented can.

"I got this from the palm tree." Komaeda peered into it. "I was gonna save this for later, when we truly need it, but...you look like you need this now."

_Need what? He needs to go back to making sense._

Komaeda's hand reached through the shelf, fingers clutched around something beige and square. "Take it."

"...You haven't told me what it is yet."

Hajime heard him sigh. "It's a cracker, an emergency ration."

"Wait, what?! You've had food all this time?!"

"I only have this one piece left..." His hand drooped. "I had a lot more, but it seems they fell out while we searched the amusement park...because of course I'm so useless..."

The cracker glistened in his hand, and Hajime salivated as he envisioned tasting it. "Th-Then...there's no way I can accept that, you should eat it."

"...I'm not hungry."

"Komaeda, please. You don't have to lie." Hajime tried to push his hand back, but he refused to budge. "I'm serious, no matter how hungry I am, I'm not accepting this."

He glared back at Hajime, still not budging. "I don't get hungry, it would be wasted on me." But Hajime just stared him down, and Komaeda bluntly said, "If you don't eat this, I'm throwing it away."

_He can't be serious...?!_

"Hinata, you have three seconds to take it. Two..."

"Hmph, fine!" He broke off the top piece. "You're eating the rest."

He put the cracker against his lips, watching Komaeda take his hand back, waiting for him to eat it first. And then he ate it, keeping it in his mouth as it dissolved, swirling it with his tongue. But it wasn't enough, he still ached for more as he pressed his fingers to his lips, tasting the lingering crumbs. "D-Don't let Soda see you with that can, he might get more suspicious of you..."

"Hm?" Komaeda peered through the empty shelf, hanging onto it. "You don't think I got this from Future Foundation?"

"That would be too boring, too obvious..." Hajime leaned his head on the shelf, staring at him. "A mystery that simple wouldn't suit you..."

* * *

Hajime curled toward the heat by his side. He yawned, slowly waking again as he lay against Komaeda. The shelf across him was empty, all its grey books scattered on the floor, surrounding them. He nudged his head to see if the other boy was still reading, but he...

Hajime gasped as he felt Komaeda's fingers caressing his stitches. "Wh...Wha...?"

"I never got to tell you this..." His fingers edged the cut, scraping off bits of dried blood as they slid downwards. "...But thank you, for staying there with me..."

Hajime shivered as he pressed against the cut, his nails pulling at his skin as they dragged against the stitches, leaving sharp twinges in their wake. "Y-You...asked."

A small, temporary curve moved Komaeda's mouth as he said, "Oh? I remember...telling you to leave."

His fingers continued to press against Hajime's cut, moving his tender skin around so gently as they crawled up and down his wrist. Hajime inhaled again, failing to enjoy it less, unable to hide the pulse of his heart beating against his touch. "But you...you meant the opposite...right?"

His fingers stopped, then slid to grasp Hajime's arm, letting his thumb press against Hajime's arm in circles, tantalizing him with each imperfect curve. Komaeda looked up at him and said, "That's right."

* * *

The blackness of the ceiling ate away his lungs as he breathed in its smoke. He was stuck staring down at the Monokuma face emblazoned on the floor. Komaeda was a voice beside him, sometimes laughing insincerely, sometimes not there anymore. He swayed against the ceiling, its stickiness holding him up, not letting go. "...There's no...hope here..."

He heard another laugh. "Don't despair! Hope always wins in the end..."

"What if you're wrong?" He tried to move his hand, but the sludge held him back, so he gazed into that grey ring, the grey tiles, his grey hand struggling to move. "What if there's no hope here? What if there's no hope anywhere..."

Komaeda's voice whispered somewhere around his ear. "If that's the case..." Hajime couldn't turn his head, so he just moved his eyes towards him, seeing only wisps of his white hair. "Then we just have to create it! All you need to do is kill me. I don't mind if you use me for food, okay? I know you're still hungry..."

His laughter echoed throughout the blackness, as they began slipping from the sludge of the ceiling, slowly growing closer and closer to the floor.

* * *

Hajime was back against the display case as Komaeda reclined above him, still reading that grey, coffee-stained composition notebook. Hajime glanced at it, but couldn't decipher any text, the inside too worn out, too ragged to read. So he looked to Komaeda, but he wasn't reading anymore. He was smiling, wheezing as he clutched his head and said, "Ha...ha...looks like I'm starting to lose it..." His smile flickered. "You look...all blurry, Hinata..."

 _Blurry...?_ The world was blurry, blurring into itself, the colors hollow, fading, too bright, too grey. He watched Komaeda wearily say, "I wonder...how much longer...I'll be able to speak...normally..."

"Speaking...?" Hajime rubbed his jaw, trying to force it to speak normally. "Right, I was...I was in the middle of...asking?" He closed his eyes, trying to dispel his growing headache. "I wanted to know..."

"You always want to know so much." Komaeda gave up on reading, and swayed downwards, collapsing on his hands, lying on top of the display case. "What is it this time?"

"It was something...something about your luck? No..." He lowered his head, resting it against the glass again, trying to cool it down. "I wanted to know...what you would be doing without it. If you didn't have your talent, what would you do?"

Komaeda went back to wheezing laughter. "Ahaah! I-If I just lost it right now? Hhehehehh..." His body trembled, then slowly calmed as he added, "I'd probably die. But if you meant if I never had it? Then...I'd just be someone different. I'd be..." He closed his eyes, murmuring into his drawn out arm, "I'd be living a peaceful life...a boring, normal life with no hope...and no despair. I'd be...ordinary. Just another common, boring person..."

Hajime snorted, "Somehow, I doubt that...but..." He imagined Komaeda being someone different, someone normal. "Huh, I can kinda see it...you in an average job, an average life...stuck with neither good nor bad luck." Hajime wondered where he'd be in that vision, how he'd fit in, if he would...but--- _That's pointless._ He went back to thinking about now, about...the possibilities after this. "But then...since you do have your talent, what..." He tried to envision it, how he would be like, but couldn't. "What will you do when you obtain the hope you're seeking?"

"What will I do...?" His blurry eyes opened. "That's obvious, I will...I'll just..." Komaeda curled towards him, his hair falling down the glass. "I'll serve it. I will help it with whatever it needs, and if it doesn't need me, then...then, I..." His eyes were unfocused, foggy. "I can...leave, satisfied."

* * *

His hand grasped the corner of the shelf as his legs wobbled, but he was able to stand. _It's all done...we've read it all...every last damn word...and none of it useful..._ He pressed on his eyes with his other hand. _Urgh...where's the mind bleach when you need it...?_

Komaeda kneeled ahead of him, attempting to clean up all the scattered books on the ground, a truly hopeless endeavour. _Heh, you know...at least I can hardly remember reading half of these...well...actually..._ Hajime glanced at the book he just put back on the shelf. _...Huh. I...I can't really remember what's in this one, either, only...that it was useless...I guess that's a good thing?_

Komaeda shoved an armful of them on the shelf, then joined Hajime in standing, his arms shaking. He sighed, and dragged his hair back as Hajime smiled at him and said, "What? Giving up already?"

"No..." He brought his palms up, still quivering. "They got too heavy."

Hajime stilled his own hands, forcibly preventing them from reaching out to Komaeda's. "You could just leave them."

Komaeda scoffed. "You could just help me."

Hajime glanced at their horrid mess, at least two shelves' worth of vapid magazines and cardboard novels strewn across the floor, hidden behind the display cases. "Yeah...no. They're definitely not worth the energy."

In defiance to Hajime's condemnation, one of the books Komaeda just placed back decided to fall out, plopping back down on the floor. They both stared at it, as Hajime burst out laughing, and Komaeda soon snickered. "A-Alright, fine...I won't clean anymore."

"Good." Hajime reached upwards, stretching his shoulders. "Then, we're finally done..."

Komaeda yawned. "Yep...that was such a waste of time."

Hajime watched as Komaeda yawned again, blinking back tired eyes. "O-Oh...I guess you didn't get much sleep last night, huh..." He winced, scratching his head. "S-Sorry about... _that."_

Komaeda stopped, a faint blush coloring his face as he glanced downwards. "N-No, it was...fine. W-Well, maybe not...um...when you were...waking...up..."

Hajime's mouth wavered as his embarrassment heated his body. _Oh god, remembering it..._ "Y-Yeah, I...uh, sorry."

Komaeda nodded, still avoiding his eyes. "Well you're not going to faint again, right? S-So..."

Hajime rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm not fainting again." And then they both waited a minute, but Hajime didn't faint again. "...See?"

"That's inconclusive." He leaned back on the shelf, digging through his pockets. "Anyway, there is one thing we can do that may be helpful..."

_How much stuff does he keep in his jacket...?_

Komaeda pulled out the file on the killing school trip. "We only briefly read it over, it may be worthwhile to give it a second glance..."

Hajime walked beside him, holding one end open as Komaeda held the other. "That's right...there might be more similarities...And maybe we can defeat Monokuma like they did...?"

Komaeda glanced at him doubtfully, and they both began reading, but the file was extremely vague on how those survivors overthrew Monokuma. In fact, based on how it was written, they could tell Monokuma himself was the author. _Great...this means this whole file is questionable..._

Komaeda brought a hand to his chin. "'They united and staged a counterattack against the mastermind.' Hmmm..." He flipped the pages until he got to the one describing the murders. "Notice anything strange in these cases?"

Hajime skimmed through the sparse details of each murder, each only displaying a single picture of the crime scene and the names of the deceased. "The last murder...that mask...they're not one of the students?" Under the names, only '???' was printed.

"I know the picture's blurred, but...is that all you see, Hinata?"

Hajime turned back to the file, examining the image of the dead body. _What did he notice...? All I see is someone in a creepy mask, covered in a white robe, stabbed in the chest with a knife...Wait a minute..._

"Their...hand..." He glanced up at Komaeda, who nodded.

"And their boots..." Komaeda quickly flipped back to the first page, with the image of those students glaring suspiciously at each other. "There's one person here who seems to have similar features..."

Hajime pointed at her. "The Ultimate Fashionista...Junko Enoshima."

That name echoed throughout the room, silently reverberating against the walls, the golden statues of the bear all gleamed viciously. _What...does this mean?!_

Komaeda smiled. "Hm, how could a person who was the first casualty of their game be the final victim? Did she fake her death?"

Hajime glanced at the picture of the first killing, multiple spears impaling the fashionista. "I...doubt she could've faked that, no I think someone used her..." He paused in thought, thinking about who could've done that, and why would they use a dead body like that, then brightened. "Maybe Monokuma got bored? Think about it, if they refused to participate, then maybe he got bored and staged a murder investigation!"

"And you think they proved that he was the killer...and then had him executed?"

"Yeah. And that's how they overthrew him, and escaped."

Komaeda crossed his arms as Hajime closed the file. "That...does make sense, but...I doubt it will help us. He's not going to make the same mistake again, right?"

_Urgh...that's true...but..._

"No, I refuse to give up. This proves that he can't force us to murder, and if we can withstand him, then...then there truly is hope for us all."

He gave the file back to Komaeda, who returned it to his jacket still dimly smiling. "Hope, huh..." He stared at Hajime. "If that's your decision, then...I'll follow it."

Hajime stood in disbelief and said, "...Will you? Will you really help me convince them that this is what we must do? That this is...this is our only chance to escape?"

"I doubt you need my worthless help, but---"

"I need it."

Komaeda sharply inhaled, breathing out, "Th-Then...I'll give it to you."

 _Does he really mean that?_ Hajime searched Komaeda's eye for any signs of him lying, trying to see if he was being insincere again, or...if he... _I don't think he means that...the next time Soda questions me, he's probably going to be on whichever side is the most incensing, the most...surprising. So, he...doesn't mean that._ But he felt it, he felt himself believing in him, in his support. _W-Why...? Why do I always...trust him so easily, when I_ know... _I know...it's false. And yet..._ He crushed his hands by his side. _I can't stop believing in that slight, slim chance that he...he could be..._

"Hinata...?" Komaeda peered at him softly. "You have that look again..."

"Look?"

"...Like...you want to ask...something of me." Komaeda spread his arms down, leading them against the empty shelf behind him, and started laughing darkly. "What am I going to do when I finally tell you everything? When you...finally get tired of me..."

"...Well, even if you get sick of me first..." Hajime exhaled, envisioning it. "Then...then we'll just be...distant until that's not true anymore..."

"Haaah!...You...you want me to believe in _that?_ That's such a _weak hope."_

"Why?"

"Huh? Because..." Komaedea looked at the ceiling, still silently laughing. When he glanced back at Hajime, there were murky swirls in his eyes again. "Because we don't have time for that, I don't have time...to wait for that..."

_What...?_

"Ahahhaaha, you're looking like that again...but don't worry, I'll tell you. I'll tell you everything you want to know!"

_He's not...he's not just talking about surviving this game is he...?_

Komaeda's hands dug into the shelf behind him as his mouth twisted and said, "I told you before, my parents are dead. And since I had no other relatives, no friends, absolutely nothing else---'it' took direct action against me." 

"...Your luck?"

He grinned wide. "It gave me my diagnosis. Stage 3 malignant lymphoma, and to top it off, it's accompanied by frontotemporal dementia."

Hajime stilled. "What are you saying?! You have...you're not...?"

Harsh laughter racketed his body as he wheezed. "Th-This is troubling...even now, my brain is deteriorating bit by bit while I'm speaking to you..."

"You're not...exaggerating." _He's not exaggerating..._

Komaeda finally stopped, his maddening eyes still dark. "My life expectancy is between half a year to a year, but right after I was diagnosed, I was accepted into Hope's Peak." He chuckled again, eyes coiling inwards at Hajime. "I believed that balanced things out, but...now these killings are occurring, you know?"

_Is he saying...? Hope's Peak was supposed to counter his...his..._

"As soon as my life entered the final round, it quickly became a rollercoaster ride!" Komaeda let go of the shelf, inching closer to Hajime in a false reassurance. "But it's going to be all right...no matter the bad luck that happens, good luck always lies just beyond it."

Hajime couldn't think, he squeezed his eyes shut. _He has...he has. N-No..._

He exhaled and bit his lip. "W-Wait, what you're saying...it was true, but it's..." Hajime stared desperately at him, hoping for..."We've had _years_ stolen from us, how do you know you haven't already been cured?"

Komaeda scoffed. "I can feel it. It's not _cured."_

_N-No..._

"Th-Then, you really...you only have, no less than that..."

 _But when we get out of here, he can get better, right...?_ He refused to think otherwise, even when he felt the creeping whispers of his mind tell him that was a delusion.

"Yep!" Komaeda clutched his arms hard and sighed. "Ah...I was perfectly fine with that before, but now that I'm on the verge of death...I've realized it's quite lonely to die alone..." His voice grew impossibly soft as he said, "That's why, I don't want you to get tired of me so quickly...I've realized that I...that all I want is...somebody's love."

Hajime felt the tense, swirling knot in the pit of his stomach start to finally unravel a bit. He tried to ignore the horror of Komaeda's fate, and said, "That's the first lie you've told...I know if it was offered, you'd...refuse it. So you don't, you don't want something like that."

Komaeda looked at him, hands still clawing deeper into his arms. "Don't I...?"

"No. You wouldn't believe in it, not even when it's staring at you so obviously."

He paused, searching for answers in Hajime's eyes. "...Someone like that...doesn't exist. I'd rather...just hope for your tolerance, before I..."

"Only my tolerance...? Nothing...more?"

"That's too much for someone unworthy to...I couldn't possibly think that you would ever..."

"Even though you want..." Hajime inched slowly closer, trying not to suddenly hug him. "You want _someone's_ love?"

Komaeda swallowed. "Y-Yeah..."

Hajime felt the words crawl out of his mouth, unable to stop them. "Then, know that you have m---"

"Hinata." The darkness in his eyes sharpened, the grey overwhelming the green. "If you feel anything more than tolerance for me, then kill me."

Hajime recoiled back. "W-What?! Why would I...?!"

He clutched his head, pulling his hair back as he wheezed. "I-I'll prepare the perfect crime for you. Then you can kill me...and you'll be saved! Let's commit the crime together so despair can become the foundation of hope!" He reached and pulled Hajime's hand, bringing it to his throat, gripping down on it hard, squeezing as he breathed out, "Just...after you do it, make a noose with the bed sheets and hang me from the door in Strawberry Tower...You'll get away with it, I promise you!"

Komaeda's icy hands pinned his down against the clammy skin of his throat, and Hajime couldn't move it away, though he struggled to, as Komaeda pushed down further, his face red as he gasped for breath. _He needs to let go now!_ Hajime stopped resisting, and pushed back, slamming Komaeda against the shelf behind him, tilting it, but Komaeda still didn't let go and began idiotically _laughing._ "Goddammit, let _go._ Or I'll..." He racketed his brain for any threat that could work, but, "I'll...!"

Komaeda lifted his chin up, looking down at him, eyes glinting defiantly. Hajime tried to pull back again, failed, and then spat out, "Damn it, let go now you utterly infuriating bastard, I...I'm in love with you!"

Komaeda wrenched himself back, hitting the shelf and it fell and crashed against the floor. "That's---that's a lie."

The Monokuma statue collided against the next shelf, causing it to fall as Komaeda stepped back further, shaking. "Th-That's a terrible lie..." Another shelf fell, spilling dust and paper in the air, blocking the doorway as it crushed the security camera. "You don't mean that, I know you secretly hate me."

The next shelf and statue smashed down, cracking the display cabinet, slamming the next shelf forward. The last golden statue wobbled as Hajime bit back, "How could I...? You're too contrary for me to hate, too frustratingly confusing and impulsive and inconsistent and dammit, _I love you for it."_

The last shelf tilted forward onto Hajime, but Komaeda grabbed his tie and yanked him away, choking him as it fell and reverberated against the book-strewn floor. He immediately let go, backing away. "G-Get away from me." He turned and left for the door, stepping over the fallen shelf.

"W-Wait...! Komaeda!"

Hajime reached out to him, but Komaeda clenched his fists and said, "Stop...just stop." The doors opened, and he stepped through. "Leave me alone. I'm tired of...hearing your lies."

He left without looking back, the doors shut closed, and Hajime kicked Monokuma's statue hard, its mocking face insufferable. _Damn it, what the hell...?! F-Fuck..._

* * *

The dust of the room caught in his throat and he coughed. _Fuck..._ He rubbed his eyes, beyond weary. _I...I need to fix this, somehow..._

_Liar!_

_I-I don't think I can fix this...I don't think I can..._ His breath hitched, and he tried to snap out of it, but couldn't. _He doesn't want...I don't think he wants that anymore...I don't think he..._

A ripped page brushed against his shoes, as he peered at the room's destruction, the broken shelves circling him, accusing him. _I-I can't stay here..._ He trudged out, back into the blindingly green house. _B-But, he...I can't let it end like this, I need to...he doesn't have time, he's dying, I need to try..._

He pushed himself down the stairs, briefly checking the second floor for Komaeda, but he wasn't there, so he left for the first floor, not finding him. His eyes were dizzy. His feet tripped over themselves as he stumbled to the elevator, going to Strawberry House, but when he got there, the floor pulsed, moving up and down violently as the strawberries danced, but he was able to crawl to the stairs, falling over, banging his head on the floor, and he looked up at the stairs, insurmountable. _He must be...up there. I...just need to reach him..._

He couldn't lift his feet up, they didn't _move_ and his hands were too feeble to lift himself up. He lay on the bottom step, just watching the strawberries melt into the walls. _I can't...I can't give up here...I can't..._

He grit his teeth, and used the wall to pull himself up, standing up, but his feet wobbled too much, not finding enough lift, just hitting and hitting the bottom step. _I can't...I can get him...tomorrow..._ He braced himself against the wall, using it to move around the corner, and faced the Final Dead Room. _Oh. That's right, I can...use this to escape here, and get food again and then I can go upstairs..._ He slipped to the door, pressing against it, clinging to its handle, but it needed to be pulled open, so he---

"Hold it." He turned, and Nanami was there. "Hinata, you can't do that, you...won't find what you're looking for."

"Of course not, what I'm looking for is...up there." He shook his head slightly, rattling the handle. "But...there's a weapon inside...we can use it...to break these walls and escape..." He grinned at her, cracking the door open. "I'm sure Nidai or Owari will be able to do it, so let's believe in them and go through!"

She tried to pull him back, but Hajime clutched the handle, and the doors opened, and he charged in, dragging her with him as they both stumbled forwards, the doors swinging shut behind them. Hajime collapsed on the floor. "Huh? Nanami you're in here?" He started laughing silently. "S-Sorry, I didn't mean...I mean, I...you should've stayed outside."

She looked at him, concerned, almost...hurt. "I wouldn't leave you to do this alone..."

Hajime paused, staring at her, her worried eyes, how she clutched her backpack strap like a lifeline. "...I'm sorry, I'm just...not...okay at the moment, and...y-you're right, this was silly." He shakily stood up, and reached for the door again. "We can...leave now..." But suddenly he heard a _Clack!_ and huge, iron bars descended from the ceiling, blocking the door. "D-Dammit, I think we're trapped..."

She sighed, biting her lip. "I knew it...we have to...solve this room to leave it..."

 _Solve...the life-threatening game..._ He glanced across the room, its eerie bloodstained walls with bloody numbers, dirt floor, prison beds, and a rotted desk. Nanami was by the door opposite to the exit, labeled with a gun. _No matter what she says, I won't let her get hurt, not for my mistake..._ He squeezed his eyes shut, head still a mess, and tried. Tried to ignore everything, to lock it all away and focus on escaping. He squeezed his head, focusing on his breaths, calming himself down. _Okay...I can...I can pretend to be okay now..._

__

Hajime checked out the desk first, finding pliers and a card as Nanami walked over, and said, "'Uncompress password.' Those letters, 'S M...S,' they seem to be days of the week? Especially with the numbers zero through six underneath them."

He stared at her, at the card, cursing this situation silently. "Yeah, it looks that way for now...but I have a feeling it's not going to be that easy..."

_It's never that easy..._

Nanami checked the back of the card, but it was blank. "Well...the days of the week are also based on the planets too...Maybe it's that?"

Hajime let her have the card, and went to the TV, but it was broken. "We need more clues, and supplies..." Nanami nodded, and went to investigate the bed, while Hajime went to the old, rickety closet, picking up a hanger. "Found...anything?"

"Uhhuh, look at this." She pointed underneath the bed. "There's something shiny there, but I can't reach it..."

"Maybe this can help?" He untangled the hanger with the pliers, and used the elongated cord to reach under the bed. Nanami snatched the key that came out.

"This...I think it's for the desk drawer?" She went over, unlocking it. "Ah, here we go." She grasped a pair of scissors, the blades looking terribly flimsy. "These can't cut through the bars...probably."

 _Was...that a joke...?_ A weak smile landed on his face. "I've got a good use for those." She handed them to him, and he stood menacingly over the Monokuma plushie, snipping the scissors in the air. "There's probably something useful in him..."

Nanami stepped back, concerned. "Y-Yeah, that's how it usually is in these games..."

Hajime stabbed the plushie, cutting it up and enjoying every second of ripping him to shreds, the fluff inside pouring out as he mutilated it, gashing the fabric hard with each strike of the scissors. "Heh, so there was something." He pulled out two batteries.

"Hmmmm..." She took them, reading their labels. "I think we need more clues to advance..."

Hajime kicked the remains of the bear and sighed. "Fine..." But the creepy smile of the plushie was mocking him again, so he kicked the whole thing under the bed. _Where's another one? I need..._ His hands dug roughly into the blades as he clenched them, slightly shaking as he spied the rankled sheets on the bed. _I could destroy this..._

"...Hinata." Nanami raised a brow at him.

"Y-Yeah?" He sheepishly replied.

"...You're in the way..." She pointed to the bloodstain he was stepping on. "I think this might be a compass..."

"Oh, sorry." He walked to her, and they both saw that it pointed north. "You think this is for that 'Watch the NEWS' clue?"

She nodded. "Uhhuh, the code's probably 3957, right?"

_That matches the numbers on the walls._

Hajime tried the combination on the wall safe, and it opened. "Wow, what? It worked! You're really amazing, you know? I totally thought that nine was a six."

She obtained a digital camera and a usb stick, using the batteries to turn the camera on. "Thanks Hinata," she glanced up at him, smiling cutely. "Here, this usb could open the laptop?"

He took it, and the laptop unlocked. "So I guess the card we found is the password?"

She nodded. "Yeah, the camera had a picture of the planets, so I think 'SMVEMJS' is the answer." He typed it in, and it worked; the screen changed to a black and white board with numbers on the top. She squinted at it. "Is this...Othello? But the board's all wrong...and based on where the dots are filled in..." Her eyes lit up as she said, "Oh! I know, this is binary!"

His tired eyes glanced at the metal panel next to the laptop. _Then, from the lights blinking, the next code is 9875...which should be entered into the wall safe._

"Binary...?" He examined the screen again, looking surprised. "You're right, it is...how did you know that so fast?"

"Oh, uh..." She brought her hoodie up, hiding behind it. "Um, I just...my father taught me...A-Anyway..." She poked at the laptop. "What do you think it's used for?"

"Maybe it's for the panel right here?" Hajime glanced up at it, red dots blinking above its blank screen. "But there's no way for us to input a passcode...we're probably missing something..."

Nanami dropped her fist into her hand and said, "Maybe...I think we can use the same one that unlocked the wall safe since it seems to be a four digit code, right?"

"Huh, yeah, that's right. Then...based on the pattern of the lights...and the numbers on the laptop...the code is...1001, 1000, 0111, 0101."

She dialed the numbers. "9875...yup, that worked."

The panel next to Hajime unlocked, revealing a keyhole. "Huh, you think the desk key can fit in here again?"

Nanami smiled sweetly at him, and took out the usb from the laptop. "It might be simpler than that, he's not a real gamer and it shows in how he's been reusing puzzles." She plugged in the usb, and 'OPEN' appeared on its screen. "See?"

_Now...for the life-threatening game..._

The iron bars rumbled, sliding up as Hajime said, "That...was almost too easy..." They both went to the door, but it was still locked. "Huh? Why isn't it opening...?"

She glanced down, clutching her backpack. "It seems...the game isn't over yet..."

Hajime turned to her, and startled back. "W-Wait, what the...?! What's that?!"

In the center of the room, there was a small pillar covered with a fancy red cloth, a handwritten note, a bear-shaped speaker, and...a gun. Nanami paled, but clenched her fists and stepped towards it, grabbing the note. "'Solve the mystery of the Final Dead Room and you will earn the right to participate in the life-threatening roulette game...P.S. You are held liable for setting the roulette's difficulty...'"

Hajime grabbed the gun before she could try. "Nanami, I brought you into this, it should be me who...tries it."

_He...wouldn't hesitate. It's the least I can do, for her..._

She looked determined, hand extended. "I'm the Ultimate Gamer...I know what we need to do to leave, so...please trust me, Hinata."

The gun lay heavy in his hand, and he knew it would be easy to ignore her, to take out some bullets and shoot himself, but she...she was asking for his trust, and if there was anyone on this island that he could trust without reservation...it was her. He knew it but still, he couldn't risk the chance that...that she..."I...I can't lose you too, so please...let me."

She smiled at him, dimples highlighting her cheeks. "It's gonna be fine, I promise you. I'm not gonna leave you, ever. And I'm not gonna let you get hurt either."

_That's a lie, I know...I know, but..._

His hand moved, and gave her the gun, but he still held it tightly. "I trust you..." He swallowed, and let go, warring within himself, desperately wanting to take it back.

She tilted it, taking out some bullets. "It means so much to me that you did..." She closed the barrel, spun it, and brought the gun up to her forehead. "No matter what happens, I want you to know..." She closed her eyes, completely calm. "I'm so proud of you all, and I'm so glad to be your friend."

_No! This was a mistake!_

But before he could stop her, she yelled, "PERSONA!" And pulled the trigger, and the gun clicked, firing a blank. Hajime finally exhaled the breath that got stuck in his throat. And she grinned at him, aiming the gun right at his head, and shot him saying, "BOOM! You've been headshotted."

Hajime flinched, still alive. "Wh-wha...?"

"Hehe, I emptied the chamber." She pressed the trigger again, firing another blank. "We just had to set the difficulty level to easy, so...I think that should let us escape from here."

"Y-You could've told me you'd do that!"

_I mean...I worried..._

The entrance opened as she said, "I needed to know that I have your trust, Hinata."

Hajime huffed, "Of course you do, I trust you completely."

She nodded, a hand over her heart. "Mmhmm. C'mon, let's go back now, okay?"

He walked out with her, briefly glancing back at the locked red door. _...The ultimate weapon that's behind there..._ But the black gun gleamed at him, and that risk...wasn't worth it, not yet, and so he let the doors close, turning back to the harsh red glares of Strawberry House.

In front of him were the stairs, leading up to him, and all he needed to do was _go._ But Nanami was waiting, and he...what could he say? _Just believe me? It's not a lie...? No...I don't think he...I don't think he thinks it's...that I'm...I think I need to...wait, for him. But there's no time..._ His jaw ached, too tense from frowning, and he turned abruptly and headed towards Nanami, missing the faint sliver of green and grey at the top of the stairs.

* * *

In the middle of his sleep, he heard a _Ka-BARGH!_ But he just shifted positions, drowning in tiredness as he let unconsciousness claim him.

His eyes snapped open hours later, and he was unable to fall back asleep, his stomach hurt too much as it ate itself. His throat was scratchy, sore, mouth too dry, but his teeth clattered from the cold, tensing his jaw more, giving him a headache. And sleep continued to evade him, but counting the seconds--- _twenty-two-forty-one, twenty-two-forty-two, twenty-two-forty-three_ \---heightened his anxiety that he'd never go back to sleep, no matter how much he tried, so he gave up and got up. And left for the lounge.

 _It's five minutes till seven..._ The morning exercise was starting soon, and he couldn't be late, so he tripped down the stairs and dragged himself to the tower, the open air irritating his eyes further.

Both Sonia and Nanami were down there, in the hallway with the black grapes, talking about cake, waiting for the door to open. It did. And as the girls flinched back, Hajime entered the room, staring at the broken remains of Nidai scattered across the floor, blue blood-oil soaking the ground.

* * *

The body announcement blared from the monitors as Hajime investigated the corpse. _There's a noose by his feet, and his head is dented...from smashing into the pillar. Which means, this is...this was done like what he said, before..._ Hajime looked up at the blackness eating away at the walls. _Someone...hung him from Strawberry Tower's door...and caused this elevator to come down here..._

He glanced at the comically large hammer by the body, discounting it immediately as any sort of weapon. _Must've been an afterthought, overcompensating to obscure his real cause of death._ He heard Owari crash through the tower, and stepped back, giving her space with Nidai as she ran to him and clutched his broken head and softly cried.

He turned to Nanami, who was shivering in the corner. "W-Why...? Why does this...always happen?" She shut her eyes, grimacing. "No...matter how much I try to stop it, this is always the result...W-Why...?" She looked at Hajime pleadingly. "Is this something...I can't stop?"

_..._

He turned to the broken pillar on the floor, when Monokuma popped up, handing out the victim's file, but the letters swirled as he tried to read, and his head still hurt, but he couldn't think about that, so---

The bear pulled out a sack from the air. "This is a gift from me to you." He reached in and brought out, "Anpan and milk! Hehheh! If I don't feed you, you guys probably won't last long enough for a trial!"

Hajime snatched the food, picking off pieces and stuffing it slowly into his mouth, swallowing without tasting anything as he washed it down with milk. He finished, and the sack lay there still brimming with more food, and no one else arrived in the tower to claim it. _That's strange...no matter what, he should be here by now...he wouldn't miss this part again...would he?_

A frigid wave of worry flooded him as he considered the possibility of more than one murder happening, preventing the people in Strawberry House from coming here, preventing him from...but no, _there's probably something wrong with that elevator..._

"Un. Be. Lievable." The bear glowered. "I never expected all of you to ditch Monokuma Tai Chi. Honestly, it was way beyond my expectations..." A flower emerged from his head as he swayed. "Well, what are you gonna do? It is what it is..."

 _Everyone ditched...?_ He looked back at Nidai's chest. _If Soda was here, he may be able to pry that open, and we can check what the radio clock inside says..._

He turned to the Monokuma file, glancing at its sparse details, nothing remarkable other than that Nidai's legs and arms were detachable upon heavy impact. _So from the collision with the floor upon falling, they fell off._

Owari glared at the ground, gritting her teeth as she tried to gather her resolve and expose the killer. "We need clues, right? I'll remember something, so just...wait for it."

Hajime nodded, and went to investigate the chains wrapped around the misleading strawberry door. He touched a link, its slim metal band completely foreign, its weight wrong, all wrong, and he tried to make it right by clutching it and pulling, but it was still wrong.

"Perhaps..." Sonia delicately murmured, "this was used as an alternative to locking the door with a key? That way it would be impossible to open it from Strawberry Hall."

The chain slipped from his fingers as he let go, and scratched his head in pretend embarrassment as he said, "...Right."

"OH, I've got it!" Owari caught her fist as she exclaimed, "There was something weird that happened!" She shakily stood up, leaning on the giant fallen pillar behind her. "Um, it happened early in the morning..." She glanced at Hajime, asking, "C'mon, you heard it too, right? That rumblin' sound?"

He distantly recalled waking to something during the night, but, _no that was just a dream...wasn't it?_

Owari added, "I was sleepin' pretty heavy so I wouldn't think about how hungry I was, but that noise woke me up and I ran outta my room without thinkin' but..." She peered despondently at Nidai again, clutching herself. "I...didn't see anythin' and no one else showed up, so...I went back to my room and fell back asleep...You don't think that sound was somethin' else, do you?"

"Do you remember when you heard it?"

She glanced back up at him, eyes wet. "5:30 am. That's what the lounge clock said...Will you be able to find out...anythin' at all with that info?"

Hajime bit his thumb, not liking the possibilities. "Yeah, I think so...that means it happened about two hours ago, right? That definitely helps us figure out what happened last night..."

She nodded, then went to examine the pillar as Hajime wandered to Nanami. She squinted at Nidai's body, bending towards it. "Huuuuh...? What's this?"

"Did you find something?"

"Um," she said, hesitantly. "Under Nidai's body...no wait," she pursed her lips and revised, "there are small, rock-like fragments underneath Mechamaru's body."

Hajime snorted. "Would you say that they could've belonged to the pillar?"

"Yeah...probably. And there's hardly any on top of his body at all..."

_Which further proves that the pillar fell first, when Nidai hit it._

Hajime peered over the robot, noticing that his good night button was open, crushed. The noose by his feet was a long, whipcord-like wire that wrapped tightly around his legs and chest. His iconic chain lay limply by his head, stained blue. And his head...was frozen in anguish, dented beyond repair. _He...he just came back to us..._

Nanami hid her face in her hoodie, sadly gazing at the scene. "Hinata...the Final Dead Room...you think...?"

 _Where the killer got everything, the chain, the hammer, the wire..._ He sighed and said, "Yeah..."

She swallowed, but exhaled and looked at him in fierce determination. "Then...I'll go and confirm it."

"...Huh?"

"I'll beat it." A small smile graced her lips. "Don't worry, I'll be fine." She looked down at Nidai, clenching a fist over her heart. "It's what...we must do for him..."

"That's out of the question! Y-You're not doing that, it's pointless, we can definitely surmise that these things came from that room, so please...Nanami, please don't."

"ARRGH!" Owari glared in their direction, covering her ears. "Man, it's noisy! I can't focus at all!"

"Ack! S-Sorry..." Hajime winced.

"...Hm?" She looked puzzled. "It's not you guys, there's a sound that's been ringing since before I came here...like a high-pitched, alarm clock sound...probably from upstairs."

Nanami turned to the door, walking out. "I think it's better if we go check that out..."

Hajime agreed, and left with her as both Sonia and Owari decided to stay...keeping vigil over Nidai.

Upstairs, the ringing got louder and louder, deafening his eardrums, but they both plowed through, to the lounge, and saw the phone vibrating horrendously. Hajime went to answer it, saying, "Hey...wha-what the hell? Why aren't you here yet? I was getting worried..."

It was Kuzuryu who answered, and he couldn't help but feel disappointed. But he still listened to him recount what happened to them: Soda off to repair the broken elevator and panel to the tower. The phone growled at him, "A-Are you even listening?"

"What?...Yeah..." Hajime sighed. "Anyway, are you guys okay? Is Komaeda...with you?"

Kuzuryu huffed and said, "Well, yeah, we're safe, but...Nidai's gone. We can't find him anywhere..."

"He's dead."

"O-Oh...Dammit, so that's what it was...!"

Hajime waited for him to stop cursing, then added, "He was killed in Grape Tower, already dead when we went there for the morning exercise..."

The yakuza cursed again as he realized that the killer prevented them from investigating properly. _But, that also means that we...can't go back to the Final Dead Room..._

Hajime tapped the base of the phone, impatient. "Hey, what's...Komaeda doing? I can't imagine that he's just...patiently waiting for Soda to finish."

"...Why are you so concerned about him? He's only here, annoying all of us."

"I-I just think he might do something drastic..."

"Yeah? If he does, who cares? Anyway, we're counting on you to investigate, so until then it's up to you bastards!"

The phone clicked, the call ended. Hajime turned his back on the phone, facing Nanami. "What should we do now? The elevator's broken until Soda can fix it."

"Mmmm..." She crossed her arms. "I guess we can stay here then until they come here...they're all okay right?"

"Yeah, seems that way." Hajime pulled out a chair and sat, resting his head in his arms as he stared at the clock ticking. _Ah...I forgot to ask them about their clocks..._ He sighed and got up, reaching for the phone, waiting for them to pick up as Nanami tilted her head at him.

"Y-Yeah?" Kuzuryu answered again. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I forgot to ask, can you tell me what time it is over there? I want to make sure our clocks are in sync."

He heard a laugh as Kuzuryu dryly said, "That's just what he said to do...you guys are weird like that, you know?"

"Who are you talking about?"

"Komaeda, of course. It's almost 8:00 am here, by the way."

Hajime glanced at the clock to make sure. "It's the same over here."

Kuzuryu sighed. "Why is that even important? I can never understand you two."

_It's...it's not like I can tell...what he's thinking anymore..._

He said, "Don't worry about it," and hung up, returning back to the table, staring at clocks as Nanami poked at the Monokuma file, counting the hours away.

* * *

_Hey..._

_Can you hear me...?_

The slow beat of footsteps awoke him from his listlessness, and he looked towards the hallway to see...Komaeda, a bit more disheveled than before, swaying, his ever-present smile a bit more sharper than before, eyes laughing harsher. Hajime stood up, opening his mouth to say---but Komaeda stepped back, and Hajime stopped.

He noticed deep grooves cutting Komaeda's palms, fresh marks from his nails. His jacket seemed...off. Like it was covering him differently, like it was heavier than before, the creases all dragging downwards. His hair curled differently, clumped together like it was pulled, like he forcibly broke through the knots. He looked worse than yesterday, worse because...he was calm, no maddening swirls in his eyes as he gazed back at him.

"Why, hello there, Hinata. Heh, it's just my luck to run into you first."

_Does he still think...?_

He tried to respond, but couldn't decide on what to say, on how to make him believe, on how to ask if he thought...if he hated him now, if taking it back would be better, or no, no he didn't want to do that, but he...he didn't want to be hated either, but he didn't know how he could convince him...

Nanami paled, biting her lip. She glanced at the phone and back at Komaeda, saying, "Did...Soda fix the elevator? How did you get here?"

Komeda shrugged. "Maybe I...teleported." And turned to Hajime with his head tilted condescendingly. "That's not important right now, there's something else I need to tell you first...I cleared the Final Dead Room!"

"W-What?!" Hajime ran his eyes over him, unbelieving. "Cleared? That's not..." His fingers curled around the heavy ghost of the gun. "You...you shot yourself?"

"Huh? You played it too? Well, of course you did. But...choosing an easier difficulty than me? That's not like you, _Hinata."_

_An easier difficulty?! No...he didn't..._

Nanami stepped back, swallowing. "Y-You don't mean..." She squeezed her eyes closed and said, "How...how many bullets did you take out?"

"Only one of course. Isn't that how you're supposed to do it? Anyway, thanks to that, I got the best prize of all!"

Sparks of pain dug into Hajime's hands as they tightened. "What the fuck, you can't." His head hurt at how little Komaeda cared, that he could consider, that he could _risk---_ "How could you even, how could you think---"

Komaeda ignored him. "I obtained several rights. And one of those rights...was the freedom to move between these houses to my heart's content."

"That's not fucking worth it!" he snapped.

"Hmph." The playfulness that always accompanied Komaeda's gestures vanished. He stood there, radiating disgust. "You know, you've been repeating yourself over and over again and it's annoying me. Can you let me speak freely for a change?"

_Huh?_

Komaeda pulled out a teal booklet from his jacket. He opened it, leafing through the pages too fast. "Since the only good thing about me is my luck, I was at least able to obtain this."

Emblazoned on the cover was a white symbol: future. Nanami asked, "Is that the sequel to the other Future Foundation file?"

His answering smile looked grotesque next to his emotionless eyes. "How disgustingly perceptive of you. Yes, this is a continuation of that, there's even more detailed information about the killing school life. But--" the file snapped shut "--it has no relevance to us whatsoever." He tucked it away, still obnoxiously smiling. "Although, the fourth case in that one was ultimately ruled as a suicide, but I'm sure that our case will be different."

His nonchalance infuriated Hajime. "That's it? That's what you risked your life over?! You can be such a fucking idiot sometimes, I don't understand how you can do something so reckless."

He saw a sliver of anger flicker across Komaeda's face before it vanished back into calm contempt. "Jeez...your complaints just never end, do they? If you're gonna talk like that, I won't want to tell you any more. And I even learned what your talent is, too."

_Wh-What?!_

Nanami said, "So...then you didn't just receive one file from Monokuma? You got our profiles from Hope's Peak too..."

"That's right." The thick, black file marked with the crest of the school peaked out from his pocket. "Unfortunately, there's nothing about our stolen memories inside, there's only your information, Hinata."

"J-Just...mine?" Hajime sputtered out, dread pooling in his gut.

Komaeda smirked. "Well, I'll let you see it if you drop to your knees and lick my feet."

His knees immediately locked out of self-preservation as a gasp escaped his mouth, drying up his lips as he pictured himself _\---"Wh-Wha---"_

Nanami sighed. "Look, if you're not gonna tell us, then...we're better off going back to Grape Tower."

"You're not curious? I mean, isn't it interesting how Hinata's the only one who can't remember his talent?" He grinned like a shark. "But that ends now, you're K---"

The words died on Komaeda's lips as his eyes caught on something behind Hajime. He started to frown, folding his arms, and then finally added, "You were just some reserve course student from the reserve department. You entered the school through a basic entrance exam, like some second-rate substitute. No, worse, since you paid for it." He shook his head, laughing again. "That's right, your kind only exist to increase Hope's Peak revenue stream. You don't possess any Ultimate talent, you just paid a rather costly entrance fee and tuition so the academy can focus on real matters--- _'bolstering and researching talent'---_ and groom the true symbols of Hope."

Those two words clanged inside Hajime's skull, solidifying. "R-Reserve course? Th-That's not...! There's no way---"

"Which means you're just a stepladder...but you should feel honored. An average, talentless human can be put to good use for those who are known as humanity's hope!"

He tried to deny that it wasn't true, that goddammit, he _did_ have a talent, but, but...he felt it crawling up his throat. That realization, that certainty. _No...no, I do have a talent, I know it! I do..._ But he didn't, but he did, but... _I'm...not an Ultimate? No talent at all, nothing at all? I was so desperate to attend, I paid my way through...? That's not, that can't be it, I know, I feel it, I do, I have...but I don't have...!_

Komaeda exhaled sharply, closing his eyes and opening them with a glare plastered onto his face. "Perhaps...you simply weren't determined enough. Did you admire hope...? Were you willing to sacrifice your body and soul to attend Hope's Peak? Or maybe...you were just obsessed with the Academy, like a fangirl following the latest trend.

"I-It's not like that, I---"

"---wanted to become hope!?" Komaeda sneered. "If that's what you're thinking, just stop it. Listen carefully, the only humans worthy of becoming hope possess amazing talents and a strong will. And the moment you're born into this world, you either have that or you don't. And you don't."

"No, that's not true. It can't be," Hajime pleaded. "You don't think that, and I...I know I have talent, _I know it."_

"Hmph. You have no talent whatsoever, and there's no way for you to obtain it. That's why...it's not even worth admiring..." Komaeda clenched his fists. "Or were you so blinded by your admiration for Hope's Peak that you couldn't even see that?"

Hajime stepped back, hand over his heart. "...!"

"So stop being so hypocritical. You're just some nobody reserve course student. A nobody who forgot he was a nobody. That's all."

_..._

"Aww, I feel sorry for you. Are you shocked to learn that you were the only one who didn't have a talent?" He stepped towards Hajime, with a small, insincere smile. "But still, if you look at it positively, it looks like there's no more reason to doubt you. Now we know what you are...a normal, average, utterly unremarkable high school student...There's no way you could be associated with Future Foundation."

_..._

"But if it's not you..." Komaeda briskly turned, facing Nanami. "Then who in the world could the traitor be? Togami would've been the most likely candidate...but now, that's probably impossible. Don't you think?"

_..._

"Hey, Hinata, are you listening?"

_..._

"Stop!" Nanami yelled. "There's no need...for him to listen to this anymore."

Komaeda froze. "What?"

"There's no need...nothing's more important than finding out who killed Mechamaru. So please, we have to go back to the case because...if we don't, if we can't survive the class trial...everyone is going to die together anyway..."

"In that case," Komaeda said cheerily, "would the traitor be among those killed as well? Although, I doubt _they_ killed our friend. But that is something I truly wonder about..." He glanced back at Hajime, still silent. "Oh well. It's fine, I'll stop for now."

"Wait, if you cleared the Final Dead Room, then you must've went to the Octagon right?" Nanami asked, clutching her cat hoodie.

"Are you curious about the Ultimate Weapon?"

She nodded. "Did you find out what it was?"

"Maybe I did...maybe I didn't. And maybe it was a giant letdown." Komaeda huffed, "Is there any reason I should answer that?"

Nanami implored him silently to no avail.

"I don't owe you two any answers. But...I guess I can tell you one little tidbit." He was in striking distance from Hajime, and turned to him again. "You're right, I did go to a place that seemed to be the Octagon, and I found many different weapons there...But I didn't find anything worthy of the name, the Ultimate Weapon."

Those words compounded on each other, cracking Hajime's face and he lashed out, "Didn't you? Why do you keep lying to me all the time?"

"Coming from someone with no talent like yourself, that's truly offensive."

He flinched further back under Komaeda's cold stare. "Wh-What did you say...!?"

"ENOUGH!"

They both stopped, as Nanami added, "Now's not the time for us to be fighting. Let's just go back to investigating Mechamaru's case, okay?" She looked at Komaeda. "You haven't even been to the crime scene yet, right?"

"Yep...and the guys in Strawberry House should be coming there any moment now." He took one last look at Hajime, then turned away saying, "Then, while we're at it, I'll go on ahead." He walked down the hallway, disappearing.

_..._

Nanami sighed. "Hey, Hinata..."

"You want me to focus on Nidai's case, I know."

She didn't look convinced, but still put on a brave smile. "Yeah. I'm relieved to hear you say that. We should get going too."

"Yeah, you're right."

_I should...forget about it for now..._

They left the lounge, to the stairs. _Fuck, who am I convincing? How can he..._ He stomped down the first few stairs, before catching himself, trying to act...focused for Nanami. _How much has he lied to me? Has everything...everything that he's said up to this point...has it all been a lie? Lies upon lies upon lies...Has he ever said one word of how he truly felt? Has warping my emotions just been a game to him? Fuck..._

_Fuck it all._

* * *

The boys from Strawberry House bickered in front of the elevator, Komaeda included. Nanami went to join them as Hajime marched straight to the tower. Sonia and Owari silently greeted him and he glanced at the chains on the door, _Something to twist,_ but he shouldn't disturb the crime scene. He settled for kicking the damn pillar, Owari laughing, roping him into trying to lift it to no success. He was exhausted again, arms shaking, sweaty. And that's when everyone else joined them. He ignored them all in favor of grinding his teeth by Nidai's corpse, but Owari's loud voice brought his attention back to their conversation.

She lifted a fist, saying, "D-Don't screw with me! Hasn't coach Nekomaru been through enough already?!"

Komaeda glared at her. "Been through enough? We need to perform this investigation so we can find out who the killer is. Or perhaps you don't want to know, Owari? Maybe you don't care about what happened to Nidai..."

"Wh-Why you...!"

"If you suck at using your brain and you really want to know who the killer is, try not to interfere so much."

She flinched back, despondent. "Ugh...!"

_What...? His attitude..._

Hajime's eyes followed Komaeda, as he ordered Soda around like a jerk. _It's not just me, he's...changed. Something happened, in that room, and if it wasn't Monokuma's previous game's file, then was it...?_

He shook his head, disgusted with himself. _Who the fuck cares._ Soda bent over Nidai's body, taking apart the metal plates with a tool knife, one that could've come from the Final Dead Room. Hajime asked, "...Where did you get that knife?"

Another plate came off, revealing nothing but wires underneath. Soda turned to the next screw. "Komaeda gave it to me, he said he had it before we even went to the amusement park. Crazy, right?"

Hajime glanced at Komaeda, lording over the body on the other side. _He never told me that..._ He clenched his fists, tightening his jaw as Komaeda looked up at him in a sneer. _Fuck him._ He swiftly turned, stomping out of the tower before Komaeda could say anything, but Soda sprung open Nidai's chest plate, and Hajime stopped, to see his clock. It was broken, permanently frozen at 7:30 am, further proving that...someone tampered with the lounge clocks.

Komaeda glared down at the body and uttered, "This...is the worst." He turned his glare on Hajime. "You overlooked such an important clue, I swear, you're just the worst. There's no way I can rely on you for anything."

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

He pulled out a dented doorknob. "I found this under the pillar."

It was too much, these constant mind games. "That changes all fucking _nothing_ and you know it. You said it before, didn't you? How you would like to be---"

"---Are you still under that delusion? Huh, somehow I expected more from you, but of course you're just a---"

"---That has nothing to do with this! You think someone with talent can suddenly tell when you're lying to them? Can anyone of them?"

There was a pause, as the rest of the students froze at the sudden focus on them, but Komaeda folded his arms, calmly saying, "I wasn't...I wasn't talking about that."

Hajime exhaled, swallowing back his immediate protest of _Then, what?!_ He told himself not to rise to the bait, that there was a dead body by his feet that deserved...deserved more from him. "If you're talking about the trial, then...you think we need that to convince them? The body's report is enough."

"Oh? You're saying you already know who killed him? Well, Hinata, let me not stop you. Go on, enlighten us all to who the real killer is!"

"That's not what I'm saying, I---"

"Then your protest is moot." Komaeda turned to Soda, swinging the handle. "Take any parts you need to fix Strawberry Tower's door."

"Huuh? F-From where? And why?" The mechanic scratched his hair, closing the pocket knife.

Komaeda sighed. "We need to confirm that this handle is from the Grape House door, right? Since it's obviously not that one," he pointed to the chained strawberry door. "And you haven't fixed its panel yet. So go on and take what you need from Nidai, here."

Owari growled, "H-Hold on! You can't just use him like that! I won't allow it!"

"It's called 'recycling!' It's a much better alternative than disposing it with the rest of the junk, right?" Hajime clenched his jaws further as he finally saw Komaeda's madness visible, as he smiled at the mechanic and said, "Well, Soda? Is it possible or impossible?"

"...L-Like you said, I could probably use these parts to repair that button, but..."

Owari ran up to Soda, pulling on his shoulder. "H-Hold on! The door's still chained shut, repairing it isn't gonna do anything, so stop messin' him up more!"

Komaeda's eyes widened, "...Chain?" and he started laughing. "You don't need to worry about that at all. Now then, you've got the parts right? So let's go." His smile snuffed out as he condescended to Hajime, "You're going to come later too, aren't you?"

"I'm not at your beck and call."

"No? But it'd be really bothersome if you didn't. I mean, if there's someone in this tower, the door won't open at all...So you should at least make sure you're not pulling my leg."

"I'm not the one who's lying all the fucking time."

"Hmph, I meant that you're being a deadweight." Komaeda walked out, Soda following him with his hands full of wires and metal.

Kuzuryu pinched the bridge of his nose. "What the hell happened to him? He seems on edge about something."

Nanami said, "Who knows?"

"And who fucking cares." Hajime looked down at Nidai's scattered parts, stained blue. He needed the trial to start so it could end and he could go back to his cottage and scream.

Sonia went to Owari, coaxing her out of the tower as Nanami, Tanaka, and Kuzuryu followed them out. Hajime stared at the chains, wanting to remove them and mess up Komaeda's plan, but that was petty and...disrespectful to Nidai. They needed to know about the tower, and his anger shouldn't prevent that. Oh, but he wanted to tear it all out, wrap it around his fist and _pull_ \---

_Bang! Bang! Bang!_

The door above him pounded as he faintly heard an insincere, "Hinata~"

He got out. Everyone already left. He waited for the elevator, and it pinged and he went inside. And got out again. The red room was empty, the Final Dead Room stared at him. He went to its door again---

"Hey, there's no time for you to fool around," Komaeda called, holding out a hand. "We've been waiting for you." Hajime walked past him, to the hallway. The doors were open. "Well, I waited for you. They were impatient."

"Kehehe..." Tanaka chuckled by the doorway. "I see...I feel it! Remnants of the winds of the second circle of hell, how I've missed you!" Hajime walked further inside, noting the missing handle from the grape door, as expected. Tanaka continued to cackle. "It appears that the Netherworld is behind this occurrence. Fortunately, for you humans...the portal created by the demon's power was too small, so it existed in this realm for only a brief second." He gestured to the closed grape door. "But the portal's impact managed to dislodge the chain, and it was sucked into the portal as it closed shut! This is the truth behind its disappearance!"

In another mood, Hajime would've played along. This time, he just stood in the corner, watching everyone's confusion at the unchanged murder scene. Komaeda laughed by his shoulder, "Isn't it great when just one clue changes everything for them? All the mysteries solved, as if everything were linked together, if you can reach it...just like I did."

...

_*Ding dong, bing bong*_

The trial bell rang across the house, deafening them until Monokuma appeared on the monitors. When his announcement was over, the tower started shaking, rumbling, reverberating, collapsing as they ran out, Hajime the last to leave and when he turned around, a giant Monokuma head burst from the floor, destroying Nidai's corpse, the pillar...everything. Its gaping maw invited them downwards, and Owari charged forward, eager to punish his killer. They all followed her inside until only Hajime and Komaeda were left outside the rock.

The faint bits of rubble cascaded down the stone's face, the dust in the air sinking. Hajime made no effort to move, trying to catch his breath before the shouting began. The floor creaked further. He still didn't enter it, chewing on pieces of stone.

"Heh, we're the same, Hinata." Komaeda stepped next to Hajime, peering down into the bear's cavern, and other than the small movements of his lips, he was perfectly still. "The same...stepladders..."

Goddamnit, he should go back to ignoring him, but...but it wasn't just him, was it? His change...it was all of them, and he couldn't be so self-centered to think that the realization that he...that he had no talent could've changed him like this, could've made him act so...cold. And it certainly wasn't his confession, so what was it? But he didn't care, _he didn't care._ "Is that why you hate me now?"

Komaeda stood there, silent.

_What the hell is in that file?_

"...I always believed that I didn't mind, that unlike you, I knew my place." Komaeda stared at Hajime like a statue. "That's why I was prepared to become a sacrifice at any time, and from that...true hope would be born..."

The line spilled out of his mouth from rote memory. "Those who survived that trial would be hope."

A flicker of a smile broke Komaeda's blank face, but he then tightened his fists, and scowled. "But it wasn't! There is no hope amidst all these killings!"

_He finally understands that?!_

Hajime muttered, "There is...survival. That's all there ever was..."

"Well it's only natural and extremely obvious that strong hope survives and devours weak hope. After all, that's what it means to live, isn't it?"

Hajime peered up at him, searching. "Where are you going with this?"

He huffed, "Nowhere, this isn't what I wanted to say to you anyway..." He glanced back at the cave beckoning them inside. "There's this one novel I like, it's a peculiar mystery story, told from the point-of-view of a high school girl involved in a serial murder spree...But when you get to the end, surprise! The girl was actually the killer!" Komaeda's eyes lit up, not swirling. "Of course, the story is written carefully so the reader doesn't learn the ending in the middle of it. But the point is, the protagonist is just a projection of the reader, and this projection turns out to be the killer...so the killer you were looking for the whole time was inside you all along. How do you feel about novels like that?"

_Novels...where the protagonist isn't what he is, where we believe something...else, a facade, unable to grasp his true nature until...it's too late._

"I'm no Dr Sheppard...Are you?"

Komaeda swallowed, tightening his fists more. "You're just a talentless reserve course student, I know you...you don't matter at all, so why do I...? Why do I still care about you?"

Hajime's heartbeats echoed across his skull, as he froze up, immobile, waiting.

Komaeda said, "You admire hope, and I love...hope. And maybe that difference is what's making me...emotional."

"What are you talking about?" He was on a tightrope, on an edge of a cliff, teetering, and if he fell---if he fell, he may forgive, and he hated himself for it. "We should...go, everyone must be waiting for us." 

He took a step forward, but Komaeda didn't move, instead grinning wide. "Everyone, huh? So you still believe that you're just like everyone else, Reserve course students are so full of themselves!"

_"What?!"_

Komaeda walked off into the cavern, laughing chillingly. Hajime's head hurt. _Damn it, damn him and his bullshit manipulations, how...why do I let him string me along like this? I can't..._

He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself to breathe. _C-Calm down...that's right, I just need to calm down..._ He focused on his lungs, inhaling and exhaling until he could manage his headache, until he...could ignore everything, all of it. Then he stepped inside the rock, and stood in the corner of the elevator, as far away from Komaeda as possible. It shook violently as it began descending downwards and he scraped himself bloody on its twisted iron bars, but the pain helped him ignore---

The elevator screeched to a stop, and opened its doors to a cubist nightmare of rashly patterned colors haphazardly thrown together. Bright pinks blinding next to teal and turquoise sickness. Hajime averted his gaze, taking his stand along with the remaining students, and the class trial begun.

* * *

The students solemnly recounted the morning events leading up to the murder. Soda stuck his nose up, hands pushing his chest forward, grinning. His mouth opened, but instead Hajime said, "We know how Nidai died. The wire wrapped around his body was used to hang him from the broken doorknob we found. But somehow...or no...it may have been because of his alarm in his chest---Nidai woke up. And fell. And hit the pillar, breaking his head. When he hit the ground, his limbs scattered. And that's how we found him."

Silence. Stares. Confused glances at him. And a snicker. "Ahhaha!" Komaeda brushed his bangs back. "Wow, Hinata. You can't just give them the answer like that! They'll never believe you now."

His eyes steeled. "So you still want to be _patient_ with this?"

"I'm merely suggesting that you forgot the most important part. The Ultimate Weapon."

"The weapon that doesn't exist?"

Komaeda sighed dramatically. "I said I didn't find it there, not that it doesn't exist. Truly, your stupidity just keeps disappointing everyone, doesn't it?" Hajime's hands crushed the stands, creaking it. Komaeda snarked, "Ignorance is by far the greatest shame..."

"Then tell us." Nanami leaned forward, tilting her head. "What is this Ultimate Weapon?"

"W-Wait!" Soda pointed at Hajime. "We're just gonna accept his theory? What about the hammer?! And wait, there's no way someone can fall, the floor's right next to the door handle! That's another contradiction! And...the more I think about it, the more it doesn't make any sense at all!"

Nanami grasped her hoodie, putting it over her head. "That hammer...was completely clean. If it killed Nidai, then it should be covered in oil, right? Since it's not...I don't think it's the murder weapon..." She glanced at Hajime. "As for the rest...I don't know. But, that pillar is the only other thing with oil on it that could be the weapon. So that's why...I think it's possible, or at least, we have to consider it further..."

Owari slammed her fist into her hand. "I had a bad feelin' about that pillar from the start! I know it..." She looked down, uncertain. "I know it killed Nekomaru, I just...have that feeling..." Her head slowly rose up as a fierce expression burst on her face. "So that's why, if you can tell us what happened, what the Ultimate Weapon is and how it killed him...then Komaeda, I'm listenin'."

"Oh? You still need my help?" He shook his head. "Of course you guys...are the same as usual...unable to clear a path to your future with your own powers, so you just sit there and falter..." Komaeda glowered at her. "What a waste of talent! And you all intend to fight the Future Foundation? You make me laugh!"

She slammed the stands. "Wh-What did you say...?!"

"Please, why don't you use your head for once and think about it? I'll give you a hint," he sneered at Hajime, "everyone has seen it before. In fact, it's been blatantly obvious to you all this entire time."

_We've already seen it? But there wasn't anything else that killed him, he died from dropping down the tower, and there's nothing 'Ultimate' about that. Then, what is it...? The chains? The...floor?_

"That's right, you all have seen it clearly!" Tanaka raised an arm, trying to lift an arcane horror and crush it. "Because I, the one who has claimed dominion over evil, am the Ultimate Weapon!" As the horror dissipated, he brought his hands in a circle, banishing it from this plane for good. "I am he who cuts the insolent catalyst which flows out from the chaos with the sword of victory..." He clapped his hands together and roared, "It's only fitting that I deserve to be called the Ultimate Weapon!"

"No," Sonia beamed, "you are far greater than the Ultimate Weapon, since you wield your Four Dark Devas of Destruction."

Tanaka's face turned beet red as he wrapped himself with his scarf. "Nh...! I-I see...!"

Kuzuryu knocked his fist against the stand. "Cut the bullshit and say it clearly, what is the Ultimate Weapon?"

A bright, sunny smile landed on Komaeda's face as he stood there. Hajime said, "If you don't want to die with us, tell us what it is."

"Hmmm...well, that's true. And at the rate you're going, enough of you will still vote for the wrong person. So I guess I'll lend you a hand." Komaeda twirled his finger in the air. "First, you need to clarify the secret of the Funhouse."

"The towers are the same." Hajime cut off Soda again, before the mechanic could protest. "Instead of being connected horizontally like Nanami proposed, they are connected vertically, like an elevator. Grape Tower is the 'first' floor, and Strawberry Tower is above it, the 'second' floor."

Nanami sighed, "So that means..."

"Yeah," Hajime nodded, "Strawberry House is on top of Grape House."

Sonia rubbed her chin and said, "Hmm, I see...then, that's why the murder scene stayed the same when we saw it again? We didn't see it from the other side, we just saw it from a higher position..."

"But..." Soda said, "couldn't the floor just rotate 180 degrees or somethin'? Like some kind of trick? Cause that means it could've passed as the exact same place, right?"

"...If so, then what?" Komaeda went back to jeering at them. "Do you seriously think such a simple answer is the correct answer?"

Hajime exhaled in a rush. "Obviously Soda, that's wrong. The door in Grape Tower was chained shut. But when you went to Strawberry Tower, that chain was gone, right? Those doors are different. In fact, the door in Grape Tower isn't a door at all, it doesn't lead anywhere."

Soda's face scrunched like he swallowed a lemon. "B-But...what if they're separate buildings? A-And the floor shifted sideways from one tower to the other? It's just too crazy if they're on top of each other, like, the shape of the houses aren't the same at all!"

Hajime's eyes narrowed. He looked at Komaeda. _Do I really have to deal with this?_ The green-grey student kept his sneer. _Damn it._

Owari and Sonia joined in on Soda's protest, both announcing their own theories. Komaeda finally broke Hajime's stare and said, "I thought it would come to this. Fine, I'll tell you guys a big hint that will convince you."

Nanami asked, "Another hint? Why don't you just tell us the answer?"

"But if I did that, then it won't mean anything. I need you guys to do this class trial properly." He glanced at each of them, lingering on Hajime. "It's also important for me because it will help me...determine something..."

_He's still searching...for the traitor..._

"But in this case, it'll be faster if I just showed you." Komaeda pulled out a digital camera showcasing one picture: an orange-brick tower dividing the scene in half, connected to only one bridge, surrounded by squiggly evergreen trees. "At an opportune time, I found a perfect camera in the Final Dead Room, and shot this from a small, conspicuous window in its concrete depths."

He passed the camera to Nanami, who showed it to everyone. She said, "There's only one bridge...if it's like what they said...then a second bridge should be there." She clutched her backpack. "That can only mean one thing..."

Hajime nodded. "Yeah, plus, we can see in the photo that the tower descends lower, through the trees. The FDR is on the first floor of Strawberry House. So if they're connected horizontally, then it should be impossible for Komaeda to have taken it above the tree line. Or..." Hajime turned to Komaeda. "Am I wrong? Did your 'descent' into the depths of the FDR actually bring you above the ground?"

"Of course it did. I was already up there in the first place."

Hajime glanced back at Soda. "So that's it. Strawberry House is on top of Grape House." The mechanic closed his mouth, pausing in thought.

Komaeda started to slowly clap his hands together. "Good call, Hinata. For just a normal high school student, you've been solving these mysteries pretty easily. Heh, in fact, even though you don't have a real talent, you already know about the other clue."

"You're referring to when you suddenly appeared in Grape House's lounge. And..." The connections rushed past each other in his head, clicking. "You came from the FDR, so that means---"

Nanami said, "The top floor of Grape House has a secret passageway into the Final Dead Room."

Komaeda crossed his arms. "Such sharp eyes...so you realized it already."

She nodded. "Yeah...it was misleading at first since the houses are different shapes, and the doors are painted so we'd think that they were connected horizontally, but...it fits."

Monokuma burst from his seat, impatient with the slow proceedings. He affirmed that the buildings were like that---but more surprisingly, constructed without Monomi's knowledge.

_But if that's the case, then...dammit, how much has he planned for us? To twist us so we act like his previous killing game..._

He noticed Soda about to try to impress Sonia again by babbling, and Hajime said, "Does it make sense now? Nidai was hung from Strawberry Tower, from the door handle there, using the wire. We know this since the wire's noose scratched the handle---near its tip so that it would be easy for him to slip off. The killer then went down to Grape Tower, bringing the floor down with them. They were able to do this because they pressed Nidai's Good Night Button, causing him to fall asleep, making the motion sensors skip him. And to ensure he would die, they set his alarm to wake him up. When Nidai did, he jostled the wire, causing himself to fall down, snapping the door handle off. He died when he collided the pillar, scattering its fragments on the floor as he landed on them." Hajime grasped the wooden ring surrounding him. "The question is, _who caused this?"_

Soda turned and glared at Hajime. "Why do you keep making up these crazy stories?! If you know so much, then tell me why the killer bothered to chain the door shut? What does that even mean?"

_I couldn't have pissed him off that much, right?_

Komaeda leaned against the stand, looking bored, and said, "It was probably wrapped there by the killer to keep us as far from Strawberry Tower as possible. You guys thought you couldn't enter there, right? Well...other than Hinata and me of course."

Sonia declared, "By doing that, they thought they could keep us away from Strawberry Tower! That's horrible!"

Komaeda nodded. "Everything...was done to tamper with the evidence so you wouldn't find out about the secret to the Funhouse. Which means..." He smirked at Hajime. "Your conjecture seems right, the killer knew that the two houses are one vertical building, and that they could kill Nidai using the tower."

Kuzuryu grimaced. "S-So they destroyed the button to Strawberry Tower, and chained the door just for that? So they could hide the way they killed...coach Nidai..."

"Kehehehe..." Tanaka whisked his arms out, laughing. "A clever theory! But you're missing one thing! How does the contact elevator supposedly transport us from one house to the other? If it's like you said, then we should be facing the same side when we move to and from the houses. But!" He gestured his hands out, mimicking the elevator's movement. "When we exit Grape House's elevator, Grape Hall is on the right. And from the elevator in Strawberry House, Strawberry Hall is on the left. Which means, the houses are on exact opposite sides of the tower." He clasped his hands together, then pointed at Hajime. "Answer me fiend! What does this mean!?"

Hajime stared at him in frustration. "It means that it probably isn't as straightforward as it seems, like the tower, the elevator probably doesn't move entirely vertically or horizontally. Anyways, that's not what's important here, we need to---"

"Hold on." Tanaka crossed his arms, grinning. "If you can't present proof of this argument, then I can't accept your conjecture that the killer knew about the secret of this cursed dimension."

"What? But that has nothing---"

"That's right!" Sonia gracefully clenched one fist in solidarity. "If you can't explain how the elevators open up on opposite sides of the house...then there may be other possibilities that we haven't considered yet about the Funhouse!"

 _They want...evidence?!_ He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Then, we can pause the trial and go to the elevators again, and..." _There's water. And we can get a cup from...the Final Dead Room? And some of Nidai's scraps are magnetic, so we can use it to make..._

Monokuma giggled. "No way! This trial's taking too long already, if you guys forgot to investgate something...Well then, that's your problem! No one's getting outta here until you guys vote for the killer!"

_Damn it._

He looked across to Komaeda, hoping... _Damn it._ He tightened his hands against the barrister, thinking of how he could prove, as Sonia and Tanaka espoused more and more diverging theories of how the houses were structured, as his thoughts ground to a halt, as he stared at him, hoping...but Komaeda shrugged, silent. _Goddamnit, why can't you care more?_

He was about to lash out at Komaeda, but Soda sighed. "W-Wait...that's...wrong, Sonia."

She smiled coldly. "Oh? Please, do explain further, if you know so much about it."

"Urk!" Soda scratched his head, murmuring, "W-Well, see...Komaeda asked me to check the elevators once I got them working..." He sighed again, glancing away from her. "He gave me a pocket knife, which also had a compass, so I used it when riding the elevator. From start to finish, somehow the compass needle rotated 180 degrees..."

Hajime glared at Komaeda as Sonia tilted her head. "Rotated...180 degrees?"

Nanami said, "Meaning, as the elevator moved between the two houses, it also rotated 180 degrees. So it's like Hinata said, the elevator is probably following the perimeter of the houses as it rotates between them, thus exiting on opposite sides. This is because it helps fool us into thinking that the houses are connected horizontally instead of vertically."

Monokuma laughed, agreeing with them. Owari just picked at her ear. "So we're done with the Funhouse, right? Then let's start talkin' about the important stuff..." She glanced at Komaeda, cracking her knuckles. "What's the Ultimate Weapon that killed Nekomaru? That's still missin' from Hinata's theory."

Komaeda twisted his hair arrogantly. "Huh? You still can't figure it out yet? It's what I found at the Octagon, you know."

 _That damn thing again._ "You mean the secret room you went to, in the depths of the Final Dead Room."

Nanami looked at Kuzuryu's confused face and said, "Strawberry House is four-sided, and it's on top of the six-sided Grape House. When you cut a four-sided shape out of a six-sided one, you get eight edges...It becomes an eight-sided shape."

Komaeda huffed, "Yep. That's basically it. In actuality, that place contained various weapons..."

"But the Ultimate Weapon wasn't there." Hajime crossed his arms, still glaring.

"That's right, I learned the true identity of the Ultimate Weapon at the Octagon..." He exaggeratedly paused and said, "It's the Funhouse. The enitre building's structure killed Nidai."

Hajime stood there, hands twitching. "That's it? That's what you derailed this trial for? Just to say that it wasn't the _tower_ but the whole _building_ that killed him?"

Komaeda exhaled slowly, dramatically. "Yeah, isn't it so disappointing? A mystery that huge shouldn't have been discovered so easily..."

"That's not---" Hajime groaned. "Whatever, so as I was saying, the killer definitely knew about the Funhouse. And they tried to prevent us from learning about it, but...something went wrong, unplanned." Hajime slowly glanced at the students, skipping over Komaeda. "The door handle in Strawberry Tower was already dented, Nidai tried to open it before and accidentally twisted it." Nanami nodded at him. "So when the killer hung him from it, they probably didn't expect it to fall off, giving us a major clue into how Nidai died. But what I can't understand is why they didn't try to beat Nidai when he was asleep, with the hammer, and stain it with oil...if they were really trying to frame it as the murder weapon..."

Nanami shook her head. "Maybe, what we need to focus on now instead...is who did this. Who is Mechamaru's killer?"

"B-But..." Soda picked at a loose thread on his shirt. "Is it really okay to believe Hinata? We only have his and Komaeda's testimony, you know?"

Komaeda laughed. "There's no way I'd lie at such an important moment. I don't want to die either..."

Kuzuryu huffed, "What happened to the bastard who kept saying how much they didn't mind dying?"

"There was a time when I thought I could become a stepping stone for your hopes, but..." Komaeda turned to Hajime. "I will sincerely retract that remark. If this was a murder for the sake of hope, I'd happily sacrifice myself---"

Tanaka growled, "You say such falsehoods, per usual. There is no such thing as murder for the sake of hope, murder is simply murder..." The winds picked up around him, fluttering his jacket. "Forcibly sacrificing others for one's own desires...! Even one as diabolical as I would avoid such action!"

"Well, what about you, Hinata?" Soda said. "How do we know you're telling us the truth?"

Hajime strengthened his stance as he faced the mechanic. "What are you implying?"

"How do we know you aren't...no wait." His eyes widened. "You knew about the Funhouse's secret since the beginning, without going to the Final Dead Room, and you've been spewing out details about this murder that only the killer would know!"

_"What?!"_

"That's it!" Soda backed away from him, almost out of the stand. "You've been telling us these things to make us not suspect you. But it backfired! You're the real killer!"

Hajime slammed the stands. "Damn it, this isn't the time for ridiculous accusations. If you are seriously considering me as a suspect, then let's talk about alibis."

"Y-You're just gonna confuse us more!" Soda pointed at Hajime. "We should---"

"Silence, pest!" Sonia declared.

"Now you're calling me a pest!?"

She brushed her hair back. "Let him speak. Go ahead, Hinata."

"Thank you." Hajime closed his eyes, resting his throat for a second. Then opened them and said, "Because of the collision with the ground, Nidai's radio clock stopped. So we know the exact time of death: 7:30 am."

Owari blurted, "But that's impossible. Cause, even though I slept in a little, I still got to the tower at 7:00 in the morning."

Hajime tried to smile at her. "Owari, you already know the truth. Nidai's clock is guaranteed to always have the correct time. It can't be tampered with...so, then the other clocks must be wrong."

She glanced at the floor. "S-So..."

"Wait," Kuzuryu held his hip, saying, "but I checked all the clocks inside the Funhouse, and I can confidently declare that all the clocks had the same time displayed."

"That's correct." Hajime nodded. "Every clock in the Funhouse had its time changed. What we all thought was 7:00 am, was really...9:00 am." He paused, and turned to the Ultimate Gymnist. "Owari, you heard a loud rumbling sound at 5:30 am, right? I remember hearing it too, and I think...we heard the moment Nidai fell...we heard it at 7:30 am."

She murmured, "Then...then there was no way I coulda saved him? If that was when...when he died..."

Hajime glanced up at Monokuma. "That's why we all skipped Tai Chi, right? We were all two hours off..."

The bear snickered, but Soda said, "We all heard that noise, too...!"

Tanaka added, "It was when we were gathered at the Strawberry Lounge..." He looked at Sonia's worried face. "What is it?"

"O-Oh, well..." She fiddled with her hands. "That sound everyone heard, I did not hear it at all."

Soda tried to discount her claim, and Hajime tuned them out, wondering if the killer could've tampered with the clocks for another reason, if---his eyes caught Komaeda's as the other student leaned on the stand and said, "The reason is obvious: so they could lure out just Nidai, and also probably give themselves an alibi."

_Give themselves an alibi?_

Komaeda rhythmically, silently tapped his fingers lazily against the barrister. "If you messed with the clocks and used a specific thing, you'd definitely get Nidai to the tower alone, right? From there, the killer's plan was a splendid success...That's all it means."

Hajime added, "So they used the Tai Chi in the morning to get Nidai, who was the only one besides the killer that knew the correct time, to go to Grape Tower alone..."

Kuzuryu paled. "Then when I witnessed Nidai early in the morning..."

"If I recall," Komaeda said, "you witnessed him around 5:00 am. And if that time was also two hours off, it should've been 7:00 am...Yeah, that's pretty much it. He was going to Tai Chi right on schedule."

Hajime nodded. "So...then what do you mean about the killer also giving themselves an alibi?"

"Well, doesn't this mean that the number of suspects has drastically decreased?" Komaeda closed his mouth, face frozen in a smirk, and Hajime knew he wouldn't be giving off any more hints on this. He sighed.

Fortunately, Kuzuryu said, "Are you talking about that alarm?" Nanami tilted her head in confusion, and he added, "A little while after I witnessed Nidai, the clock in Strawberry Lounge started going off. Plus, it was just before that rumbling sound occurred..." He crossed his arms tightly. "That's it...so that's what it was..." He glanced around the room. "If Nidai died when the rumble happened, then whoever doesn't have an alibi at the time is the prime suspect!"

_Is it really as clear cut as that?_

Owari gasped, "Really!? Was there anyone who didn't have an alibi at that time?!"

Soda started biting his nails. "I...remember now...the sound was so loud I couldn't help bolting from my room, but there was one guy who never left the lounge...we were both on the same floor...it's pretty weird that bastard never came out of his guestroom...!" He glared at Komaeda. "It was you, wasn't it? You conspired with Hinata to kill Nidai, just admit it!"

Komaeda stayed silently smiling, and Hajime said, "Then only you, Kuzuryu, and Tanaka were the ones who heard the alarm and the rumbling noise?"

Kuzuryu nodded. "That's right, Komaeda didn't come out even though it was ringing like crazy...so you weren't in your room then, were you?"

"Yeah, where were you? Removing evidence from the murder scene with Hinata?" Soda pointed at Komaeda.

"Please..." Sonia clutched her heart. "Say something...!"

Owari added, "If you don't hurry up and answer..."

Komaeda scoffed, "If I may be frank, you think I conspired with Hinata, a filthy substitute reserve course student, to kill Nidai? Yeah, right."

Hajime bit his lip hard, refusing to defend Komaeda, but he needed to, to find the true killer, but...fuck him. Sonia looked at Hajime and asked, "What...what does he mean by that?"

"It has nothing to do with this case." He turned to Komaeda, and said, "You can just say you couldn't have heard a fucking thing, since the deluxe rooms are all soundproof." He glanced back at Sonia. "That's why you didn't hear the noise either, and Nanami? I suspect you also couldn't hear it."

She brought up her cat hoodie. "Yeah...I didn't hear anything last night...I thought it was because I was in a deep sleep, but you're right...the deluxe rooms we are all staying in are soundproof..."

"That's right!" Komaeda gestured wide, grinning maniacally. "You actually noticed that...Nice catch, Hinata. Are you using your 'Ultimate Reserve Course Student' talent?"

"That's enough, Komaeda," Hajime sternly said.

"But it isn't. Now we know who the true killer is, and we can finally put an end to this farce."

 _The true killer..._ "You...you can't mean...!"

Komaeda glared at Tanaka. "Why don't we just ask him? Well, Tanaka? You were also in a deluxe room, so how did you hear the noise while the rest of us couldn't?"

The great demon lord looked away. "And what's wrong with that? If the bell of catastrophe rings throughout the night, it is the universe's providence to stop it---"

"Why were you able to hear the alarm?" Komaeda threatened.

Sonia looked at him pleadingly. "G-Gundham...?"

Komaeda said, "You weren't in your room at the time. That's the only way you could've heard it."

"Gundham...Um...you have some sort of explanation, right...?" She implored.

Komaeda just continued, "He probably couldn't return to his room because of Kuzuryu. You stayed in the lounge for a while, am I correct? Until the moment that alarm started ringing...right? If you were in the lounge for that long, the killer who had left earlier obviously wouldn't be able to go back."

"W-Wait!" Hajime blurted, "That's still assuming the killer was residing in Strawberry House..." Sonia, Owari, and Nanami all looked at him. "Um, I mean..."

"Hah." Komaeda chuckled. "Please, it was obviously someone in Strawberry House who did this. Have you forgotten that the elevator broke on your side?"

"N-No, but..."

"Plus, why would he set the alarm only in one house? It's clear that he planned to be asleep in his room before it went off, and he planned to stay in there proving, like me, he was in his room the entire night."

Owari looked at Tanaka, "But why'd you some out? You shoulda hid till the excitement died down..."

"No..." Nanami sighed. "If Tanaka tried to hide, and if those two went to his room to check on him, he would've been found out..."

"But, hold on." Hajime said desperately, "What if his door was just open? The rooms are only soundproof if they're sealed, so..."

"What are you trying to do?" Komaeda glared at him.

"There's not enough evidence to accuse Tanaka, we can't just act like he's the killer!" Hajime faced Tanaka, willing him to speak up. "There's other reasons why he could've been in the lounge, like...like if he was feeding his hamsters on the third floor..."

Sonia clutched her hands together, pleading. "G-Gundham...? Please, can you at least say something?"

"...Answer me this..." His hamsters crawled out of his jacket, nibbling on its threads. "Including myself and my Four Dark Devas of Destruction, how many ears do we possess?"

Hajime said, "What?!"

Tanaka grinned. "The answer is ten. That's right, I possess ten ears...that means I have five times the hearing of a normal human! The soundproof system here may as well not exist!"

"You bastard," Kuzuryu slammed the stand with his fist. "Do you understand the situation you're in right now?!"

"Hmph, I was just joking." Tanaka uncrossed his arms, exhaling. "At the time, I left my room to go to the bathroom. By coincidence, I heard the alarm. That's right, that's all it was...the world is always so simple."

Nanami asked, "Are you saying it was just a coincidence? Isn't that timing a little too perfect?"

"Heh, and yet, I'm being suspected by all of you...It seems it was actually horrible timing on my part."

"I see," Komaeda scoffed, "you're still holding out...Well, you don't have to admit it. We're going to decide who the killer is with a majority vote anyway. So why don't we just go ahead and start voting? It's obvious that Tanaka is the killer."

"H-Hold on a sec," Hajime gestured out, trying to get him to stop for a second. "We can't just---"

"---You know, Hinata? This class trial, this killing..." Komaeda moved his hand across the room, highlighting the bleak faces of the students, "it's merely the opening act, you know. It's meaningless. Just a farce. Just a boring farce...so boring, so stressful...I'm so painfully bored that I might develop stomach ulcers...Seriously! Let's just hurry up and finish this before I collapse from poor health!"

_That's not fair...that's not fair of him to say that...!_

"P-Please wait!" Sonia blurted out, "We have yet to hear Gundham's rebuttal!"

Tanaka remained silent, averting his gaze. Komaeda said, "But he's completely shut up. Perhaps he can't argue anymore..."

"Gundham!"

Tanaka's mouth slowly moved in a false laugh. "I was simply at a loss for words after being dumbfounded by your pathetic assumption." He glared outwards, in a grimace. "In fact, I shall deny the very basis! Your assumption has been wrong since the beginning!" He recrossed his arms, leaning back. "Based on your assumption, I hung Nidai from the fourth floor of the tower, and made the floor descend to the first floor...from there, after returning to Strawberry House, I was present when the alarm at the lounge went off, correct?" He laughed. "Although going to and fro is busy enough as it is, how would I be able to travel between both houses anyway?"

Komaeda rolled his eyes. "We've already been over this. The Octagon allows you to move between the two houses without the elevator. It connects the first floor of Strawberry House with the third floor of Grape House. Plus, once you've cleared the FDR once, you can pass through it as many times as you want."

"B-But," Tanaka lashed out, "what if the killer was unaware of the existence of the Final Dead Room?"

Komaeda scoffed, "There's no way they didn't know."

"That is merely an illusion you have fabricated from your own suspicion!"

"The wire. The hammer. The chain." Nanami solemnly said, imploring Tanaka. "There's no way the killer could've gotten them from somewhere else...they had to have come from the Final Dead Room." She turned to Komaeda. "Isn't that right?"

He nodded. "Yep, I saw many weapons and tools in the Octagon. Wires, hammers, and chains, too."

Nanami sighed, still looking at Tanaka with hope. "If that's the case, then they obviously know about the secret passage too..."

Tanaka stepped back, clutching his hamsters. "...Khhh!"

Komaeda smiled, and started to tap the barrister again. "It seems this is the end. Normally, we'd end up listening to Hinata lecture us with a veeery long summary of the case, but there's no reason to waste anymore time on this opening act, so I'm going to end this right now!"

Hajime blurted, "Y-You can't yet, we still haven't---"

But Komaeda said, "First of all, by messing with all the clocks in the building, Tanaka tried to lure only Nidai. The elevator was probably broken by that point. Thanks to that, Nidai wasn't able to go to Grape House, which was supposed to be the meet up point. So he tried going over to Strawberry Tower, just like we did when we found out the elevator was broken." Komaeda shook his head lightly. "Well, it's obvious he'd attempt that...at the time, he didn't know that the tower rooms only differed in height. Also, the button in Strawberry Hall wasn't broken, so he could easily enter the tower...But surprise! Tanaka was waiting for Nidai's arrival!"

Kuzuryu asked, "But if Nidai didn't go to Strawberry Tower, what would the killer have done then?"

Komaeda shrugged. "Their plan was a balancing act of uncertainties, even if they failed, they probably wouldn't have minded...they can just greet everyone the next morning as if nothing happened, and come up with a different plan."

Nanami nodded, grasping her arm. "And...without such a risky plan, they wouldn't have been able to lure him at all."

"I'm going to continue summarizing the case, okay?" Komaeda turned to Hajime. "Through this, Tanaka successfully lured Nidai to Strawberry Tower. There's no way he could fight head-on with the Ultimate Robot, so by pressing the Good Night Button, he rendered Nidai powerless without fighting him."

Tanaka further caved inwards. "Nh...! H-Hold on, y-you...! What did you say? That I didn't battle?!"

"Hm?" Komaeda flicked his bangs away. "What's wrong with that?"

"Don't...mess with me...!" Tanaka ground his fists together, unleasing a furious blast of energy. "Don't mess with me, I cannot ignore those words!"

Restraining his laughter, Komaeda said, "Why are you angry all of a sudden?"

"You fools! You do not understand...you don't understand at all...!" Tanaka huffed, "Ha! You make me laugh! After all this time, you still don't understand anything at all!" He grasped his hand, spread outward, trying to contain the evil within. "It appears...I cannot finish just yet...! Maybe I'm just a human destined for hell. However, I cannot finish just yet!"

"And what can you possibly do?" Komaeda sneered.

"It's obvious! I'm going to destroy your illusory assumptions!" His hands crawled up his body, grasping his face, around his mouth as he said, "Your words, you said I pressed Nidai's Good Night Button---However, that button was on the back of Nidai's neck. To press it, I'd have to get behind him!"

Both Owari and Nanami agreed that it would've been downright impossible for anyone to best Nidai in a one-to-one scenario. Tanaka stood straight, regaining his composure. "Just as I thought, truly frail...succumbing so easily to this simple argument...it was a mere illusion...Fuhahahaha! If you want to set me up as the killer, at least surpass your own human limitations!"

The obvious rebuttal slithered up Hajime's throat, but he refused to give in to it, he still thought it could've been--- _It should be Soda's plot, he was the one who knows how to disable everything, he could've_ \---but the pieces all lined up, pointing at Tanaka. His feeble attempts at defending himself led Hajime to believe...that maybe a part of him wanted this, this ending. But, there was still one thing that he could try, and maybe...!

He waited until Nanami sadly offered that Tanaka could've used his hamsters to push Nidai's button. Tanaka smirked. "Kehehe! Not just myself, but you actually brought up how splendid my subordinates are...Hmph, I have no recourse but to admit it."

"A-Admit it?" Sonia leaned on the barrister, indenting the wood. "Did you say...you admit it?"

Tanaka continued, "It seems the Acheron is beckoning me to finally cross it, into the pit of Hell itself. Fine! Then you must trample me underfoot and advance! Victory can only be built upon a foundation of corpses! You cannot find peace without sacrifice anywhere! Now, trample on this life. Trample it as though it were mere trash on the side of the road, pull the curtain strings of this worthless performance with your own two hands!"

"No, Tanaka...we don't have to." Hajime exhaled a deep breath. "We don't need to. Because this trial shouldn't have happened in the first place." He took a quick glance at the students' shocked faces and pressed on. "That's right, what we thought of as Nidai...he wasn't our friend! He was just a robot built by Monokuma. He wasn't a person, he wasn't even real, just an enlarged toy. That's why..." He glared at the bear. "That's why, this trial shouldn't exist at all, this wasn't a murder. So, Tanaka...you can't be the killer. There wasn't anything to kill."

"How could you say that?" Owari blistered, eyes wet. "H-How could you do that to Nekomaru? Did his sacrifice mean anythin' to you?"

_Damnit, can't you realize the living are worth more than the dead? If doing this can save Tanaka, then please...we have to! Nidai...Nidai would understand..._

"Owari, Nidai died on that beach. The creature that came to us afterwards...was already a corpse. A human can't die twice, so it's impossible for that robot to truly be Nidai!"

Nanami's mouth wavered as her brow scrunched and she said, "That's...that's just cruel, Hinata."

Komaeda sighed. "And pathetic. Did you forget already? The moment Nidai came back to us, Monokuma said that destroying him would count as murder. So regardless of whether you believe he's the real Nidai or not, killing him still counts as murder in this game."

Hajime's fists tightened, drawing blood. "Th-Then it still wasn't murder..." He exhaled, grasping. "That's right, even though Tanaka set it up...it was still Nidai who caused himself to fall! He could've waited, he could've...he could've tried to..." His eyes shut, he bit his lip. "He decided to fall..."

Komaeda just looked down on him. "You're just so disappointing sometimes, you know that? Much more than anyone else...how pathetic can you get?"

Hajime bit out, "You can't discount this possibility, in fact it matches the fourth case of the killing school life this way, doesn't it? Both of these cases are suicides."

"That's enough." Tanaka stood solemnly. "Hinata, you're disrespecting Nidai's memory and our final battle together. This wasn't a suicide at all. I killed him."

_Damn it, Tanaka...!_

Sonia swallowed and uttered, "I cannot believe it...I just, I cannot believe...You...you killed Nidai?" Her eyes closed, crying. "I cannot believe something like that!"

Tanaka smiled at her. "You don't wish to forgive me? Do you feel regret? Then finish it! Cast your impure votes for Gundham Tanaka! My beloved, deadly foes! Let the voting time begin!"

The lever rose in front of Hajime. He reached towards it, hands shaking. _Isn't there anything I can do? Something?_ Tanaka was still smiling, playing with his hamsters. _No, we can't lose him like this, there must be something...!_ The lever wobbled, moving towards Soda. But he looked up, into Komaeda's eyes, just staring, just waiting. The lever moved towards Tanaka, and locked in. It didn't matter anyway, there wasn't anything he could do. There wasn't anything...

The slot machine clicked, displaying Tanaka's face, guilty. The bear shrieked at their victory. They left the stands, Sonia clutching Tanaka's robes. "Why, Gundham? Why would you...? How could you...?"

"...Why do you want to talk to one who has lost?" He backed away from her, towards Monokuma. "The loser merely leaves...it would be unnecessary for me to say something..." She shook her head, reaching out, and he said, "Is what I would like to say, but for your, for honor's sake, I shall correct one thing!" Tanaka turned with a scowl towards Komaeda. "You said I made Nidai powerless without fighting him. That, however, is a grave mistake."

Owari slowly walked towards him, fists clenched. "How did you...?"

Tanaka widened his stance, folding his arms together. "Nidai did fight, that is no mistake. And because he fought, he lost...and died."

She growled out, "L-Lost and died...?"

"If he was just trying to cling to life, there are many ways he could have done so..." He spared a glance at Hajime. "However, he did not allow that."

Owari threatened him to tell everything that happened, and he did. Going to the Final Dead Room, learning the secret, gathering the tools. Changing the clocks, meeting him alone, giving him the chance to run, to flee, to call for help---he fought instead. "He chose a fight that risked life and death. He was serious, too. He gave it his all to try to kill me..."

Sonia paled. "Huh?!"

"Kehehe..." His hamsters came out again, twirling his scarf around. "If I had died instead, the mystery surrounding the case would've been more complicated...You would never know why I, he victim, went to the tower by myself...I can see it, nobody would know that the victim, me, was actually the one who planned the whole thing!"

Nanami said, "Is...that true? Mechamaru really...did that?"

Tanaka stood silent, remembering. Fresh tears dripped down Sonia's face as she clutched herself and whispered, "Wh-Why? Why did you fight? We are all friends...Why couldn't you stop this!? Even if both sides agreed...it was still wrong!"

"Hmph, I will not argue. I have no intention of forcing my values upon you." He lifted his chin up defiantly, staring at Hajime. "However, I must say this. What's the point of living if you're just waiting until you finally die? There's nothing courageous about that, that is abandonment! A mere feeling of resignation!"

"Damn it, you don't know that, we could've...!" Hajime bit his tounge, tasting iron. "Wasn't there something in the Octagon that we could've used to escape? The window, or...?" Komaeda averted his gaze, a silent 'no'. _Damn it._ "There was still..."

Tanaka roared, "There was no other escape, even you felt that. Ever since we were locked inside that building we all had been dominated by that feeling of abandonment...but nothing is born from resignation, that is simply a reason to give up. And to give up on life...that's just an insult to life itself!" He took another step back, towards Monokuma. "Haven't you heard of the term 'dog eat dog'?"

Nanami tilted her head. "Cannibalism?"

He nodded. "In zoology, cannibalism is a commonly observed phenomenon...many creatures at some point in their life span engage in cannibalism. That is what it means to live!" He brought his hands out defensively, the bandage on his left unraveling. "If you say killing for the sake of living is 'evil,' then what would you call giving up on life itself? If a world would consider that justice, then I will fight that world with every last fiber of my being. Giving up on life and choosing death, is nothing but a blasphemy towards life. It is a violation of the natural order! It is the arrogance of humanity!"

Owari bit out, "Y-You! Are you sayin' all that to try to justify what you did...!?"

Komaeda just sighed. "But it sounds like Nidai felt the same, too. That's why they fought, right?"

She flinched back, cursing. Tanaka continued, "That man had the courage to die when he needed to die. That is why he challenged me to our battle..." He turned back to Sonia with a grin. "Regardless, as I've already said, I do not intend to force my values upon you fools. I have betrayed you all...that is the absolute truth...but...even so...isn't this a better alternative to slowly starving to death here, hoping for the impossible?"

"That belief..." Nanami sadly said, "is why you committed your crime...but what about the Final Dead Room? Did you do the Russian Roulette too?"

Tanaka nodded. "Unlike Komaeda, I only used one bullet, but..." He scoffed, "Hmph, compared to my battle with Nidai, that was mere child's play."

Nanami clutched both backpack straps. "You know, after listening to you talk for a while, I'm starting to think that...well, it's also because you unexpectedly admitted your crime without much resistance..."

Sonia rubbed her eyes saying, "Gundham did you...? Are you stupidly sacrificing yourself for our sake?"

He laughed. "I can't believe you would ask such a foolish question, just who do you think I am?! I am Gundham Tanaka, history's greatest monster! My cursed existence is feared by all mankind, there's no way I'd sacrifice myself for the sake of you fools! Not in a million, not in a billion, not in ten-thousand billion years! In the name of Pandemonium, it is impossible!"

She grabbed his hand. "Then, why? Why didn't you try harder to defend yourself? Why didn't you try and hide in my room last night? I waited for you...Gundham, I..."

"I lost. That's all." He let go of her, and faced Monokuma. "Now then, let us be rid of this foolish talk. It's about time the fun started, Monokuma! Let us begin!"

The lights dimmed into pinks as the bear led Tanaka out. "P-Please wait!" Sonia cried, "This...this is just too much! I beg of you, please...Monokuma, please help Gundham!"

Soda swallowed, looking away. "Miss Sonia..."

"Gundham, I beg of you...don't leave. Please..."

Tanaka glanced back. "Sonia...an act as unrefined as stopping a man from going to his death...does not befit a noble such as yourself." Her mouth wavered, she rubbed her eyes again. Tanaka stood smiling. "Yes, let us begin now...however...what is it my Four Dark Devas of Destruction?" His hamsters crowded themselves on his hands, as he whispered to them, "Are you worried about me? Oh, my feared Four Dark Devas of Destruction, that is not like you at all...there is no need to fear. In this world, I am only a temporary visitor..." The hamsters squealed in protest. "I was simply visiting for a moment, and now that my duty is complete, I must return to the darkness...That is why, until the very end..." He formed his hands into each symbol as his hamsters mimicked them on his shoulders: "Pride! Conceit! Courage! Insolence! Fearful of nothing! Daunted by nothing! Let us laugh uproariously! Fuhahahahaa! That is Gundham Tanaka! I shall stick with my evil until the very end! Open Sesame, Pandemonium! I shall fill hell with true hell!"

The bear took him. The monitor blared with an image of a desert, where he was there, in the center. He drew the devil's magic around him, summoning his soul to hell, and when he was finished, the beasts came. Trampled him. His hamsters grasped his body before it was gone. Then it was gone, the image gone. Sonia was crying loud, beating the ground. Hajime...Hajime walked out.

Komaeda followed, grasping his shoulder saying, "Not staying for their sickening display of renewed hope?"

Hajime waited a breath before shrugging him off, and walked away.

* * *

Komaeda didn't follow. _Good._ He stepped outside, underneath the Ferris Wheel. There was one thing left to do. He turned off his student handbook and crossed the main road, going to the train station. It was empty, just tracks. He followed them inside the tunnel, spying the remnants of the train. No gas escaped from the ceiling, this time, and his footsteps echoed and echoed against the hollow tunnel. He followed the tracks further inside, but soon stopped. A wall greeted him, a green wall covering the cavern; it was fake. He touched one side, and it gave, turning, leading him into the first floor of Grape House. He touched it again, on the other side. It didn't budge. _But with enough force...whatever._ He went to the elevator, pressed the button for Strawberry House and waited. _They must all be out by now. After..._ His fist hit the wall. Again. Again. The doors opened. He saw that room straight ahead, and walked in.

The Final Dead Room hadn't reset from when Komaeda used it. The red table lay in the center, with the gun. Hajime picked it up. "Pupupupuu!" The bear appeared. "Too bad! The highest difficulty setting's gone now! Well, you're welcome to try of course, but you won't get anything out of it!"

 _Damn._ "Access to the Octagon?"

The bear twirled in place, beaming flowers. "Wahahahaaha! Hahahahaah! Yes, yes! Go on ahead! That is, if you survive." It vanished. His nails scratched the handle of the gun. He glanced around the room, the Monokuma plushie still there, intact. He shot it four times. Then spun the barrel, pointed it at his head, pulled the trigger. Still alive. The red door clicked open, and he went inside the Octagon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So in this version, Nagito has been trapped on a deserted island at least three times: once as described here, probably the one from Hope's Peak (haven't decided yet whether I'll accept that canon into this fic), and of course from the events of dr2. Man, islands really love him ;D. Anyway, super excited for chapter 5!


End file.
